Sat 6/22 @11AM-3PM
For so many people, Cleveland’s world was upended on November 22, 2014 when a Cleveland policeman shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice who was by himself in Cudell Park, playing with a toy gun. The officers said they said they had told him to drop the gun several times; video showed that they lied, driving up on him (an unsafe practice) and shooting him almost instantly. The county prosecutor Tim McGinty stepped out of his official role to act as defense attorney for the officers during the grand jury process which simply asks if there’s enough evidence to bring a case to trial but doesn’t adjudicate guilt or innocence. As a result of an outraged community, McGinty was defeated in the next election.
His mother Samaria Rice has worked tireless to make something good come from her son’s murder, founding the Tamir Rice Foundation which is creating a community center in the St. Clair/Superior neighborhood. She’s spearheaded memorials to him, including arranging for the gazebo where he was shot, which was going to be discarded by the city of Cleveland, to be transported to Chicago, where it was installed on a plaza on a landscaped lot at the Stony Island Arts Bank, and creation of a memorial garden and headstone in Cudell Park, dedicated two years ago.
Tamir is not forgotten. The Tamir Rice Foundation and the Friends of Cudell Commons Park will be celebrating what would’ve been his 22nd birthday. Join them for a fun afternoon of celebration and games, and hope for a brighter future for the Tamirs of today.
Cleveland, OH 44102