Protesters gathered outside the Cuyahoga County Justice Center Monday to call on county Prosecutor Michael O’Malley to reopen investigations into police shootings from years ago.
The Tamir Rice Foundation and Jun Wang Justice Committee held the rally to recognize the anniversaries of the deaths of Tamir Rice and Jun Wang. Both Rice, in November 2014, and Wang, in October 2016, were killed by police officers in Cuyahoga County.
Samaria Rice, mother of 12-year-old Tamir who was killed by Cleveland police while playing outside with a toy gun, said during the press conference that she’s lost faith in the Democratic Party to do anything about it.
“I might have wanted to reach out to President Trump because he does not like corrupt police officers, that’s what I do know," she said.
Rice has lobbied for years for additional accountability from police. She agreed to a $6 million settlement with the city in 2016. The officer who shot her son, Timothy Loehmann, was fired from the department a year later. An independent investigation by the U.S. Justice Department found insufficient evidence to bring federal charges against Loehmann and another officer involved in the shooting.
Protesters were also asking officials to look into the shooting of Jun Wang who was killed by North Royalton police in 2016 during a mental health call after he stabbed an officer.
Wang's family asserts that the call they made for help was not handled properly.
“If the officers would have followed proper procedures and trainings, my little brother Paul (Jun Wang) would still be alive today,” said Wang’s sister Julia Rielinger in a media release.
O’Malley is up for reelection next year. His only opponent in the race for Cuyahoga County prosecutor so far is fellow Democrat Matthew Ahn.
