Memorial to Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio
On November 22, 2014, a 911 caller reported a child playing with a gun, allegedly pointing it at others in the park at Cudell Commons on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. Within seconds of officers arriving on the scene at 3:30 pm., one officer unloaded his weapon and shot Tamir Rice in the stomach. Rice was transported by ambulance to MetroHealth Hospital, where the 12-year-old died several hours later.
After the shooting, it was revealed that Rice had been playing with a toy gun.
This event was one in a string of high-profile deaths of African American males by police during the 2010s. This shooting, in tandem with the police killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford III, and Akai Gurley led to the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement, which ignited protests across the country.
In response to the shooting, the officers were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. In the end, officer Timothy Loehmann was cleared of all criminal charges. However, he was forced to leave the Cleveland Police Department after it was discovered that in a previous police position, he was found to be emotionally unstable and unfit for duty.
In the wake of the shooting, the pavilion where Rice was shot has been removed to make room for the garden currently marking the site. The pavilion has since been reassembled at the South Side Arts Park in Chicago, Illinois where it stands as another memorial.
