The police deal with criminals, rarely are criminals well behaved. Sometimes, very rarely when looked at as a percentage of interactions with the public, a criminal attempts to flee or even harm a police officer or another citizen. When that happens force is used.
The reason why in most instances the reason police who shoot criminals dead do not get prosecuted is that when you are in the act of committing a crime, particularly a violent crime, you are subject to being shot and killed. If you want to avoid being shot and killed, do not engage in criminal acts, especially violent criminal acts.
Even in the case of little Tamir Rice, he was engaged in a FELONY. A violent felony. He was brandishing a weapon and menacing a community. He attempted to reach for his weapon and was shot. The fact that it was a replica has no bearing on the incident as it looked like a real pistol.
Was it quick? You damn right it was.
Does the police officer have every right to protect himself from a perceived lethal threat? Also, you damn right he does.
Had Tamir NOT spent his time getting his jolly’s pointing a gun in innocent passers by faces, he would be failing the eighth grade right this minute.
What happened to Tamir Rice is tragic, but HE put himself in that situation. The police acted on the threat as they perceived it. Second guessing people is always easy.
As for the fools who lead the police on a high speed chase through city streets for more than half an hour. They where no saints, the cops where a bit trigger happy, but the DA was an idiot to try to prove that the policeman was guilty of murder. Particularly since there where several dozen police officers shooting at the car.
A better way to handle it would have been a manslaughter charge or several manslaughter charges against every officer who discharged his weapon.
Even better, if the idiot driver had not pulled over when the cops tried to pull them over, the whole mess could have been avoided. If they would not have attempted to ram officers with their car when they where cornered in a parking lot, they would most likely have survived to over dose later in the year.
Of course he is. Hence the barf that I added in brackets ( ) the to the article