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Tamir Rice’s Mother in Shelter 5 Months After Police Killed Son

HeadlineMay 05, 2015

The mother of a 12-year-old boy fatally shot by police in Cleveland, Ohio, has moved into a homeless shelter and remains unable to bury her son, five-and-a-half months after he was killed. Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun when police pulled up and fatally shot him within two seconds of their arrival at a park. They failed to provide medical help and tackled Tamir’s sister to the ground as she tried to run to help him. Now, his family has asked a judge to reject the officers’ bid to delay their civil rights lawsuit, pending an investigation by the sheriff’s department. The motion says Rice’s mother, Samaria Rice, is living with Tamir’s sister in a homeless shelter “because she could no longer live next door to the killing field of her son.” The family has also waited to bury Tamir, in case more evidence is needed from his body. Samaria Rice and her uncle Mike spoke at a news conference Monday.

Samaria Rice: “Less than a second, my son is gone. And I want to know how long I’ve got to wait for justice.”

Mike Petty: “My niece here has been displaced out of her home as a result of this, had to get emergency shelter as a result of this injustice. What I’m here to do is support her, and we do want to know how long. All of us have seen the video. In less than .78 seconds, two shots was fired. They said that they told him to put his hands up three times. That could not have happened, from what we saw in the video.”

Peaceful protests continue in Baltimore, Maryland, over the death of Freddie Gray of spinal injuries in police custody. During a solidarity protest over Gray’s death in New York last week, a restaurant patron accosted protesters, shouting “White Lives Matter” and telling activist and student Betty Yu he hoped she got raped. The man, Sam Pugliese, was the president of the company which makes Jala brand Greek yogurt. His company said he has resigned “as a result of our core values.”

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