Tamir Rice and unarmed white men.

And then there was Tamir Rice. Truly a sad story. Kid playing with a toy gun in the park; there is a 911 call to the po po, and the next thing you know an 12 year old is dead after two gun shots to the abdomen. (Watch)


This case is tragic on so many levels. First, the police officers who are not properly trained. Second, the same police officers who have color arousal issues. Third, the irresponsible parents who purchase toy guns for their children to play with in the first place.


But field, it's not only black children who accidentally get killed by police officers.

I know, little Mexican children get shot as well.

But field what about all the unarmed white men who get shot by black police officers?


Yes, an extremely rare occurrence I am sure. In fact, can think of only two.


Dillon Taylor was not shot by a black man; the police who shot him was Hispanic. But I will concede that his killer was non-white.


Thing is, though, the officer, unlike Officer Wilson in Ferguson and others, was wearing a body camera.


And there was James Whitehead. He was killed by a black off duty police officer after the two men got into an altercation where the off duty officer claimed that Whitehead called him the n-word.


That black officer was terminated and sued to get his job back, and the family of Mr. Whitehead settled a civil suit with the city of Orange,Texas.


Anyway, back to Tamir Rice.


Like the situation in Ferguson, there are some issues all the way around.

"Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said the officer, one of two who responded to a dispatcher's call, was less than 10 feet from Tamir under a gazebo when the confrontation took place He declined to say if the video matches the officer's description of events, saying a full interview of the officer has not been conducted.

Neither he nor Chief Calvin Williams explained why police have not obtained a full statement from the officer.

The boy's family declined to view the video but it was shown to family representatives, Tomba said. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said the video would be released, but did not say when.

The identities of the officers have not been made public. They were placed on three days' paid administrative leave, and will be on restricted duty when they return, police said.

Tomba said the investigation could take three months, after which a grand jury will hear the case to decide if charges are warranted.

Tomba said one officer fired twice after the boy pulled the fake weapon from his waistband but had not pointed it at police. The boy did not make any verbal threats, but he grabbed the replica handgun after being told to raise his hands, Tomba said.

Williams said the "airsoft"-type pellet gun lacked the orange safety tip required at the time of sale and was indistinguishable from a real semiautomatic pistol.
"Guns are not toys," he said. "We need to teach our kids that."

"Who would've thought he would go so soon?" Gregory Henderson, a close friend of Tamir's family, told WKYC-TV. "To be 12 years old, he doesn't know what he's doing. Police, they know what they're doing."

Henderson also questioned why police did not use a Taser-type weapon.
"You shot him twice, not once, and at the end of the day you all don't shoot for the legs, you shoot for the upper body," Henderson said to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.Henderson, identified by that newspaper's website as Tamir's father, said Tamir was a "respectful" young man who minded his elders.

A 911 call to police in which a man says the gun was "probably fake" has added to the controversy.

Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, said the officers were not told the caller thought the gun might be fake. He said an officer taking a Taser out when they believe there could be a person with a gun puts the officer at risk, the Plain Dealer reported.

The hacker group Anonymous claimed responsibility Monday for shutting down the City of Cleveland's website after Rice's shooting, WKYC said. The FBI is investigating". [Source] 

I just hope that the officer who shot young Tamir will show some remorse.


Because sadly, the officer who shot Michael Brown certainly did not.