Cleveland Mayor Apologizes for ‘Insensitive’ and ‘Inappropriate’ Language in Court Filing on Tamir Rice Shooting
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iStock/Thinkstock(CLEVELAND) — Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson apologized on Monday for “insensitive” and “inappropriate” language used in the city’s response to a federal lawsuit in the fatal shooting of Tarmir Rice at the hands of Cleveland police officers.
Jackson said he was “apologizing” to Rice’s family and to the citizens of Cleveland on behalf of the city. The city’s filing stated that Rice’s injuries and death “were directly and proximately caused by” his own failure “to exercise due care to avoid injury.” Rice was playing with a toy gun at the time of the shooting, a point that made it seem as though the city was blaming Rice for his own death.
Officers responding to a phone call of a person walking around with a gun shot Rice seconds after stepping out of their patrol car. The initial caller had noted that he was not certain the gun in the individual’s hand was real, though a dispatcher did not pass that information along to the officers.
Jackson said Monday that the city would amend its filing and resubmit it within seven days.
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