No indictment in Tamir Rice case, prosecutor says (Let the riots begin!)

CNN Breaking ^ | Updated 2:31 PM ET, Mon December 28, 2015 | By Steve Almasy and Ashley Fantz, CNN

[EDINVA]

“Rice was 5 feet 7 inches tall and 195 pounds, according to the autopsy report.”

In other words, the size of many a full-grown adult.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Non-lethal guns are to be affixed s an orange muzzle.

...at least until the ghetto gang-bangers all start painting their muzzles orange

[Trailerpark Badass]

You can't tell that from the video.

for what reason would the "kid" remove the orange tip?

[nothingnew]

But neither deserved to be shot.

Maybe, but, do you carry and this 200 lb "kid" pointed that gun at you...what would you do? I know my answer, what's yours?

FMCDH(BITS)

[DoodleDawg]

You can't tell that from the video.

Considering the video shows that the kid was lying on the ground, shot to death, less than two seconds after the police car stopped I'd wager that the cop couldn't tell that either. Even if he assumed it was a real gun where was the threat to him before he fired?

for what reason would the "kid" remove the orange tip?

I would imagine it was so it looked like a real gun and he'd appear more bad-ass than a twelve-year-old usually did. Is that a reason for police to shoot him?

[IChing]

Are you even acquainted with what happened in this case? It wasn’t merely that he turned toward the cop.

[Bodleian_Girl]

In the transcript of the 911 call the person who called said, “He’s scaring the s*** out of me.”

[Trailerpark Badass]

If the cops roll up me because someone called 911 because I was sticking my cellphone, which I modified to look like a real firearm, in people’s faces, scaring the “____” out of them, i’d think I brought those consequences on myself.

[Menehune56]

Hope the feds don’t now try for a violation of civil rights case like they did in the Rodney King matter.

[HamiltonJay]

I see, so if someone who shares your age and general ethnicity is out there doing evil things, that makes it okay that you are killed for doing something innocent?

[Moonman62]

In the transcript of the 911 call the person who called said, “He’s scaring the s*** out of me.”

...

Facts are stubborn things.

[dp0622]

I wasn’t there. kid of figure you would err Incredibly on the side of caution in this instance.

i’m not going to second guess anybody.

I don’t know.

I can’t believe this is an issue. 35 years ago, we had all kinds of black guns, the cops would drive by, no one shot us. we were 12.

[The All Knowing All Seeing Oz]

I’m sorry this child, in fact any child, is dead.

But died long before the shots were fired.

He was already dead when he thought it was Ok to take a very real looking handgun and wave it at people in a public park.

He was already dead when he thought it was Ok to take a very real looking handgun and point it at a police officer, and a highly marked police car in a public park.

He died when his (undoubtedly single) parent didn’t teach him to not play with guns 10 years earlier.

Of course, the City will pay that same parent a few million dollars....

[DoodleDawg]

police have the same lethal force criteria as other citizens, so you're assumption is absurd.

In Ohio use of deadly force is authorized only to prevent serious bodily harm or death. Where was the threat to the officer when he fired? Was the gun pointed towards him? No. Was the gun drawn? No. Yet he shot anyway.

why don't you answer the question instead of evading it?

Read it again. I did answer.

[driftdiver]

When you’re a hammer every problem is a nail.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Again, how many seconds would you wait facing someone with a gun before you fired? What's your minimum? Would you wait until you see his muzzle? Till his sights are lined up on you? Don't evade, answer the question.

As for lil Tamir and his gunsmithing, to look more badass to whom?

[Leaning Right]

If the cops roll up me because someone called 911 because I was sticking my cellphone, which I modified to look like a real firearm, in people's faces...

You do have a point there. But there has been at least one incident of cops shooting someone holding an unmodified cellphone. The key point here, I think, is distance.

If a cop is going to roll up on a situation such as this, don't roll up so close that you've forced to make a split-second decision on whether or not to shoot. Give yourself some distance, and some time to evaluate the situation.

And yep, I know that's not a one-size-fits-all solution.

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

I see, so if someone who shares your age and general ethnicity is out there doing evil things, that makes it okay that you are killed for doing something innocent?

Evidently the court system didn't think the cop was at fault; and common sense tells you that when you have an epidemic of "unruly youths" killing and maiming, you do not sit there and make yourself vulnerable based on the assumption that they're harmless.

[Trailerpark Badass]

He was in the process of pulling the gun from his waistband; unless you’ve seen some enhanced video I haven’t, it is impossible to tell how far it is pulled out, but what I have read, the gun was not found in his waistband.

[driftdiver]

The kid was stupid to be playing with that gun (real or not) like that in that location.

Kids do stupid things. I probably shoulda died about 5 times growing up.

The real problem I see is the cop pulled his car up right beside the kid, putting his partner about 3 feet from the “guy with a gun”. Caps are already amped up knowing theres a possible gun involved. They are just doing what they are trained to do, whether its a gun or a dog, shoot and say you felt threatened.