Seven years after Cleveland Police Department Officer Timothy Loehmann killed Tamir Rice, the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association is fighting to have Loehmann return to the police force. Earlier this year, attorneys for the Cleveland Police Union took their case to an appellate court, but the court ruled that Loehmann would not be allowed to return to the police force. Months later, their case has reached the Ohio Supreme Court. Along the way, a number of civil rights activists and organizers have publicly expressed that Loehmann should never return to the police force after killing an unarmed 12-year-old boy. Joining the ongoing legal matter, Rice's mother, Samaria Rice, has issued a statement to the Ohio Supreme Court asking that they do not allow Loehmann to rejoin the city's police force.
"Timothy Loehmann can't be trusted. I hope that the Supreme Court does not give him a chance to get back his job...The fact that the Cleveland police union is still trying to get him his job despite him killing my child and lying on his application to become a police officer shows you just how immoral that organization's leadership is," Rice stated.
"His sense of entitlement after not just killing a child but lying to become a police officer should not be rewarded. He was, and remains, unfit to serve as a police officer, in Cleveland or anywhere else," Rice's family attorney, Subodh Chandra, added.
Rice and her family earned a $6 settlement from the city following Tamir's death. However, a five-year federal investigation resulted in no criminal charges being levied against Loehmann, leaving the door open for him to return to the police force. A decision regarding the matter is expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
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