Why the Grand Jury Made a Reasonable Decision Not to Indict in the Tamir Rice Case

By now, you’ve heard that two cops fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a black kid who was holding a toy gun, in Cleveland.  This tragic story concluded this week when the grand jury decision not to indict, and protests are already being planned what many in the black community are saying is a miscarriage of justice.

David French writes, in National Review, about the decision in this horrifying and tragic case:

… horrifying and tragic do not equal criminal, and there is a key fact in the case that leads me to believe the grand jury’s decision was defensible and likely wise. To recap, in November last year Rice was playing in the park with a realistic-looking Airsoft pistol. The orange cap had been removed, making it look even more like a real gun. A citizen called 911 to report on Rice’s actions, and said the gun was “probably fake . . . but he’s waving it around at people… it’s scaring the shit out of me.”

Here’s the key fact:

Although the caller specified to the dispatcher that the person in question was possibly a child playing with a toy, that information was not relayed to the officers and the officers responded to the call as an “active shooter” situation, authorities said. It was not the officers’ fault that they rolled up on the scene without that key piece of information. Thus, the officers were reasonably on a much higher state of alert. Then when Rice didn’t put his hands in the air despite shouted commands to do so — but instead seemed to reach into his waistband — their decision to open fire is rational, not criminal. There is no doubt that the officer fired extremely quickly. And there’s little doubt that had he waited even a few additional seconds that Rice would be alive today. But it’s one thing to make a split-second deadly decision when you believe that you’re dealing with an “active shooter” — it’s quite another if you believe the gun is “probably fake.” 

My heart goes out to all involved in this tragedy, especially the Rice family and his community.

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