Cleveland to pay US$6m to family of black boy shot dead by police

The US city of Cleveland has reached a US$6 million settlement with the family of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African American fatally shot by police while holding a toy gun.

Tamir Rice was shot dead by a white police officer in Cleveland in November 2014 while holding a toy gun AFP

WASHINGTON: The US city of Cleveland has reached a US$6 million settlement with the family of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African American fatally shot by police while holding a toy gun.

Under the terms of the settlement, Cleveland acknowledges no wrongdoing, according to details of the accord announced on Monday (Apr 25) by a US District Court in Ohio.

The deal, which still requires the approval of a probate court, shields the city from a potential federal civil rights trial that would have drawn renewed scrutiny of its troubled police force.

Rice's November 2014 death at the hands of a white officer was one of a series of high-profile incidents involving police violence against African Americans that fuelled protests across the country.
Several of these cases have resulted in multimillion-dollar settlements between cities and the families of victims.
Surveillance video showed Rice was fatally shot within seconds of a patrol car arriving on the scene as he began to pull a toy pellet gun out of his waistband. The boy died hours later in hospital.
The Rice family's lawyers said "no amount of money can adequately compensate" the relatives for their loss.
"In a situation such as this, there is no such thing as closure or justice. Nothing will bring Tamir back," they added in a statement. "His unnecessary and premature death leaves a gaping hole for those who knew and loved him that can never be filled."

The lawyers also denounced "the problem of police violence, especially in communities of colour," calling it "a crisis plaguing our nation."

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson spoke of a "difficult time" for his city. "There is no price that you can put on the life lost of a 12 year old child," he told reporters. "That should not have happened in the city of Cleveland."

Last year, a grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against the police officers involved in the shooting, rookie patrolman Timothy Loehmann and his partner, Frank Garmback.

At the time, then Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty said the jury found the shooting was the result of a "perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunication by all involved that day," but not a criminal act.

The officers were responding to a 911 call reporting a person carrying a "probably fake" gun. "There's a guy in there with a pistol. It's probably fake, but he's pointing it at everybody," the caller said. "I don't know if it's real or not."
In its complaint, Rice's family accused the city of negligence, saying dispatchers should have told officers about the caller's description of the gun likely being a toy.
The family also said the police officers were too aggressive as they "rushed" to the scene, pulling their patrol car right up next to the boy, and fired too quickly on Rice, whom they failed to provide with medical care or assistance after shooting him.
The complaint said the city had a pattern of hiring police officers who are "unfit" for duty, and failed to vet or supervise them properly.
In response, the city said Rice was responsible for his own death, because his injuries "were directly and proximately caused by the failure of plaintiffs' decedent to exercise due care to avoid injury."
The mayor subsequently apologised for the city's "poor use of words" and "insensitivity."
DEALS TO AVOID SHAME
Under the terms of the settlement, Cleveland will pay US$3 million this year and US$3 million in 2017.
It is the latest in a string of seven-figure payouts by cities to avoid wrongful death lawsuits, which are brought by the estates of those killed against authorities liable for the death.
Earlier this month, the Chicago City Council agreed to pay nearly US$6.5 million to settle two separate cases of alleged police misconduct.
One of the cases, caught on shocking video, involved a mentally-ill man who was repeatedly struck with a Taser gun. The other was over the death of an asthmatic man following a police chase on foot.
Baltimore agreed in September to pay a US$6.4 million settlement with the family of Freddie Gray, whose death in custody sparked riots and looting in the gritty city located near the US capital Washington. The Baltimore police union had denounced the large payout as "obscene."
Last year, New York reached a US$5.9 million settlement with the family of Eric Garner, whose final words - "I can't breathe" - became a national rallying cry in widespread protests.
Garner, unarmed, was approached by police over claims he was illegally selling untaxed cigarettes in July 2014. One of the officers placed him in a chokehold, cited by the medical examiner as a cause of death.

- AFP/yt/de