CLEVELAND — The family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot by Cleveland police in 2014, is asking the Justice Department to reopen the case into his death after it was closed near the end of the Trump administration.
Attorneys representing Rice's family sent the request in an eight-page letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland Friday.
In late 2020, federal prosecutors said they would not bring charges against the two officers involved.
Prosecutors said video of the shooting was of such poor quality they couldn’t conclusively establish what happened.
"Samria Rice knows that from the Great Beyond her son is crying out for justice, and she has been thwarted in her efforts to try and obtain justice for him," said attorney Subodh Chandra who represents Samaria Rice, Tamir's mother.
The family's request follows a week in which police shootings in Chicago and outside Minneapolis drew national scrutiny and triggered outrage among some.
"There’s no question that the repeated problems of what seem to be dubious police shootings based on video footage that we, as the public, are having the opportunity to see, shows us that there is a pattern and practice around the country that deserves scrutiny and deserves accountability," said Chandra.
The Justice Department declined to comment Friday.
In 2015, a grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against the officers. Rice was Black. The officer who shot him was white.
The shooting sparked protests about police treatment of Black people.
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