(Washington) - The U.S. Department of Justice says there will be no federal charges against the two police officers involved in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014. The Justice Department has closed the investigation.
In a lengthy decision, the feds said there's insufficient evidence to bring civil rights or obstruction of justice charges against former Cleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann, and Officer Frank Garmback.
In November, Rice's mother, and her lawyers, had demanded answers from federal prosecutors. Upon learning of Tuesday's decision, Samaria Rice told cleveland,.com, "It continues to show how broken the system is."
Neither Loehmann or Garmback faced any criminal charges, as a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury failed to indict them. Officer Loehmann was fired by the Cleveland Division of Police, but because he lied on his job application. Garmback served a 10-day suspension.
Rice was shot on November 22, 2014, when Loehmann and Garmback were responding to a call of a young man with a gun outside the Cudell Recreation Center. The gun that Rice was holding turned out to be an Airsoft pellet gun.
(Photo from 12/29/15 protest by Angelo Merendino, Getty Images)
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