TAMIR RICE, killed by Cleveland PD 1 year ago, Still no Justice

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Nicholas Heyward Sr outside the Barclay Center in Brooklyn holding a pic of his son, Nicholas Heyward Jr. who was shot and killed in 1994 while playing with brightly colored toy guns in the stair well of his building.
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Militarized NYPD outside the Barclay Center.
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Retired NYPD Detective Graham Weatherspoon who speaks out against the NYPD quota system said yesterday, “He could have lost his life but, I took the time to make an assessment. He said, ‘Please don’t kill me, don’t kill me,’ and he dropped the weapon”, about a situation he was involved in while working as an active duty NYPD Detective. “Cops only have a split second to make a decision, that’s true Weatherspoon said, but the training and the motivation have to be correct”.
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Steve Quester told me why he was attending the 1 year anniversary of the killing of 12 yr old Tamir RIce by Cleveland PD, “Black people have been rising up and putting their bodies on the line to end police terror against communities of color and it’s high time that white people stood up and stopped out complicity with racist oppression in this country”.

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Organizers read a statement from the family of Tamir Rice, “My family is still grieving from the murder of my 12 year old cousin Tamir Rice. Tamir was shot and killed in less than 2 seconds by Cleveland police officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback while playing with a toy gun in a neighborhood park a year ago. No one could have prepared us for the pain of losing a family member or the disappointment of not finding justice through our legal system. As we reach this day, the tragic anniversary of Tamir’s shooting we are more determined than ever to seek justice. We want the prosecutor, Timothy McGinty, to step down and appoint a special prosecutor. We want to see that the officers that murdered Tamir are immediately fired from their positions, that they have retained for over a year since his death. We also demand an immediate arrest and that they stand trial for their actions.” The family then thanked the public for all their support for standing with them.

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Demonstrators chanted “Fists Up Fight back” as they made their way towards the Gowanus Houses where a similar incident in which a 13 year old Nicholas Heyward Jr was killed by NYP in a stairwell while playing with toy guns with friends in 1994.
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Police follow behind the demonstrators as they make their way to the Wycoff/Gowanus Houses for a vigil for Nicholas Heyward Jr. trying to keep them on the sidewalk.
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Police ordering demonstrator onto the sidewalk.
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Woman yelling at police from her apartment window “Gotta learn not to kill people. Get cameras, you need cameras”
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Marching down Dean St. towards the Gowanus Houses with NYPD making sure they stay on the sidewalk.
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“Fists Up Fight Back” from the protestors and “On the Sidewalk” by NYPD. Then protestors continued on chanting, “March on with No fear, We’re doing this for Tamir”.

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Wall mural of Nicholas Heyward Jr. on Warren St. just before arriving at the Gowanus Houses.

 

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to the right and above on the Nicholas Heyward mural.
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To the left of the Nicholas Heyward Jr Mural on Warren St
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MJ Williams saying, “The DOJ’s got them under their thumb” referring t the police. With the crowd chanting, “NYPD you’re a Lie, We don’t trust you with our lives”.
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Entering Gowanus Houses where Nicholas Heyward Jr was killed in 194 at the age of 13 while playing with colorful plastic toy guns in the stairwell of his building wit friends.
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A confrontation ensued between a couple of demonstrators and NYPD. The demonstrators can be heard saying, “then don’t ask me why we’re angry. One demonstrator while filming the cop, told him, “your colleagues kill children”. While another female demonstrator exchanged words in Spanish with a Hispanic cop.

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Shannon Jones from WHY ACCOUNTABILITY made officers feel welcome by chastising a couple of cops for laughing. She let them have it. “You should have tears in your eyes for your own people who got shot in the stairs playing with their friends. Don’t look away, cause you were laughing. Now I’m gonna embarrass you like you try to intimidate us”. Shannon went on for a few minutes. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING VERTICAL PATROL FOR IN THE PROJECTS? GO DO THAT SHIT ON WALL STREET WHERE THYE’RE STEALIN MONEY”. “As a matter of fact, GO DO VERTICAL PATROLS AT ONE POLICE PLAZA!”
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Nicholas Heyward Sr., father of Nicholas Heyward Jr who was shot and killed by NYPD in the Wycoff houses in 1994 addressed the crowd, “I grew up in this project. My son was 13 years old when he was playing an innocent game of cops & robbers. They all had plastic, colorful toy guns. A cop said he saw the kids on the roof top from an adjacent rooftop and could not tell if they were kids. “It was daylight, it wasn’t dark out. He said in a deposition it looked like they were going to throw something off the roof”. “I USE THE WORD MURDER BECAUSE THAT”S WHAT IT WAS, INNOCENT, UNARMED. YOUNG CHILD NOT COMMITTING NO CRIMES, NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG, HE WAS NOT A THREAT TO THE BLACK COP”. “AND YET HE SHOT AND KILLED AN INNOCENT CHILD WHO, After my son seen the cop , dropped the plastic toy gun and said. “WE’RE ONLY PLAYN WE’RE ONLY PLAYN”.
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Picture of the pouring of water as people called out the names of those killed by police followed by “Ashe”, “Tamir Rice”, “Ashe” “Nicholas Heyward Jr.”, “Ashe”, “Ayana Jones”, “Ashe”, “Eric Garner”, “Ashe”
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After the calling of the names a candle was lit followed by a moment of silence.
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The crowd during the moment of silence. Some holding lights like candles
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Retired NYPD detective Graham Weatherspoon with NYPD behind him during the moment of silence.
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Josmar Trujillo, activist, “I saw a sign at the Akai Gurley march that said. ‘Remember the dead but fight for the living’. “that makes sense to me but, why can’t we also fight for the dead. I don’t just want to carry their names around and their pictures around, I want to fight for them because they are still with us today. “We have to fight if it’s been 1 year or 21 years”. “It’s not just about hash tagging their names , It’s about taking their names right to the halls of ‘power’ and let them know that those spirits are with us”.
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Graham Weatherspoon, retired NYPD detective and founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. “During my tenure I’ve had people arrested and sentenced to state prison for up to 15 to 20 years. DURING MY TENURE AS A DETECTIVE I SENT POLICE OFFICERS TO PRISON FOR THE CRIME THAT THEY COMMITTED AGAINST THE CITIZENS OF THIS CITY. NO SECOND THOUGHT ABOUT IT. WHEN YOU CROSS THE LINE YOU DESERVE TO BE IN PRISON; CITIZEN, POLICE OFFICER, D.A., CLERGYMEN, ALL TYPES CROSS THE LINE”. “THERE ARE NO PERFECT PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY OR IN THE WORLD”. “THERE IS NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON HOMICIDE & MURDER” “D.A. HYNES GOT HIS POSITION RIDING ON THE BACK OF A BLACK DEAD MAN, THE GRIFFITH CASE IN HOWARD BEACH”. “WHEN I WAS SWORN IN WE WERE BURYING 1to 2 COPS A MONTH IN NYC. MY PARTNER WAS SHOT IN THE FACE HERE IN BROOKLYN”. “ONE THING THAT STANDS OUT, RIGHT IS RIGHT AND WRONG IS WRONG”. “THE D.A.’s JOB IS TO ADVOCATE FOR THE VICTIM AND NOBODY ELSE”. “I STOOD I THE HALLWAY THE DAY AMADU DIALO WAS KILLED. I DID AN ASSESSMENT OF ALL THE BULLET HOLES IN THAT HALLWAY”. “He did not retreat into the vestibule, he did not crouch and he did not turn”. HE WAS EXECUTED ON HIS FRONT STEPS.
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Larry Holmes of the People’s Power Assembly thanked the young people for stepping up and coming out. “THIS IS SO NECESSARY AND REVOLUTIONARY, I THINK YOU SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELF REVOLUTIONARY” “FREEDOM WILL NOT BE DELIVERED TO YOU BY ANY POLITICIAN”. “IT WILL NOT BE DELIVERED TO YOU BY THIS RACIST INSTITUTION, IT’S COURTS, IT’S MAINSTREAM” THE THING THE STATUS QUO FEARS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IS YOU, IN THE STREET SHUTTING SHIT DOWN”. “THEY FEAR WHEN YOU TAKE OVER THE BRIDGE”. “THEY FEAR WHEN YOU TAKE OVER THE HIGHWAY” “THEY FEAR WHEN YOU DO STUFF THAT MEANS NO BUSINESS AS USUAL”
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Organizers thanked NYPD for shutting down the streets for them and were given a round of applause. Then, announced the vigil for Tamir Rice for this evening at Grand Army Plaza at 6pm They stated their demands and asked for Cleveland D. A. McGinsy to recuse himself and appoint a special prosecutor for not advocating for Tamir and release ALL video and photography of the murder.

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Author: Cat April Watters

On a Truth Diet! Purging myself of all the LIES from Society.