During a press conference Monday that lasted over an hour, prosecutors showed enhanced fames from surveillance video, played calls from 911 and the police dispatcher, and essentially laid out all evidence that led an Ohio grand jury to decide not to indict the police officer who shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice last year.
Among that evidence was the mistaken assumption by police that the 12-year-old Rice was “in his 20s,” despite a 911 caller guessing that the “guy with a gun” at the recreation center was “probably a juvenile” — a detail not relayed by the police dispatcher. Blogger Kate Aronoff broke down the argument to its simplest form, unleashing a new wave of anger from the public who earlier rejected the idea that Rice could have been mistaken for an adult.
Prosecutor McGinty says Rice should have known better before playing in the park, because he "looked older"
— Kate Aronoff (@KateAronoff) December 28, 2015
Disgusting. RT @KateAronoff: Prosecutor McGinty says Rice should have known better before playing in the park, because he “looked older”
— Miss Johnson (@BullsFanDRose) December 28, 2015
— Christopher Walsh (@czwalsh) December 28, 2015
@KateAronoff Heh?
— Milind Gupte (@Milind_Gupte) December 28, 2015
@KateAronoff @keplyq please say this isn't true?! WTF
— Crystal Angel (@IamCrystalAngel) December 28, 2015
@KateAronoff this pic was taken a few weeks before Tamir was killed… WEEKS… pic.twitter.com/BPnB3omXsf
— #StepUpScholastic (@LeslieMac) December 28, 2015
@KateAronoff So if you are old or look old, look out?
— Ray O'Brien (@pimathman) December 28, 2015
@KateAronoff @serendipities this is the same as saying a rape victim should have known better for getting drunk at a party
— Tiffany (@tiffany_s614) December 28, 2015
Eat my fuckin dick RT @KateAronoff: Pros. McGinty says Rice should have known better before playing in the park, because he “looked older”
— Heywood Jablomie? (@HoodCertified) December 28, 2015
@KateAronoff Holy shit.
— Hank Single (@Hanksingle) December 28, 2015
Greg Howard, staff writer for Deadspin, says that the Rice shooting has frightened black parents from allowing their children from playing in public parks and is “precisely what terrorism looks like.”
imagine dropping this on a white kid’s parent with a straight face https://t.co/i2cRVDY9CX
— Greg Howard (@greghoward88) December 28, 2015
not being able to send your kids to public parks because there’s a chance they’ll be killed at random is precisely what terrorism looks like
— Greg Howard (@greghoward88) December 28, 2015
Prosecutors have noted before that Rice was 5-foot-7, wore size 12 shoes, and weighed 175 lbs., making it entirely possible to assume he was older than 12.
5'7" 195 pound lil boy with a "toy gun" b..bu.. he was a boy playing in the park. Grow the Fuck up people #TamirRice pic.twitter.com/yYnU3kZstv
— Hank Taxpayer (@HankTaxpayer) December 28, 2015
@HankTaxpayer that's FAKE? would have fooled me.
— nick hobart (@nickhobart) December 28, 2015
@nickhobart that's the thing. Air soft guns come with a bright orange ID on the barrel so people know it's fake. This one had it removed
— Hank Taxpayer (@HankTaxpayer) December 28, 2015
#TamirRice stood 5'7", 195 Lbs.
A man-sized person w/ something designed to look exactly like a gun & you want cops to not shoot?— Populo Iratus (@cmahar3) December 28, 2015
Tamir Rice was 5'7" which is a male child's height. I was 5'6" when I was 12.
— kept_simple (@kept_simple) December 28, 2015
That cop must have been on the finest brand of crack is #TamirRice "appeared" older to him. And really? 5'7 and 170 pounds? I need receipts
— Keena Renée (@iamkeenarenee) December 28, 2015
City University of New York professor Angus Johnston thinks cops “mistaking” the size and strength of blacks is one of the building blocks of American history.
If you want to understand why Tamir Rice, baby-faced and 5'7", was described as huge and menacing, look to history. pic.twitter.com/c7LnoZJAMW
— Angus Johnston (@studentactivism) December 28, 2015
A search through any US metro newspaper's archives for the phrase "giant negro" will blow your mind.
— Angus Johnston (@studentactivism) December 28, 2015
