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Tamir Rice

No indictment (That’s a NYT article, by the way). And the took the opportunity to say that the child looked older than twelve (he didn’t; adults need to learn what twelve looks like, and regardless, it isn’t a capital crime to be older than twelve), We can’t second-guess the cops, he said.

Emmet Till was 14 and goofing around. Tamir Rice was 12 and playing, like kids do. The state-sanctioned murder of black children in the US continues.

Meanwhile, in NYC a nice white lady pointed a toy gun at cops and was apprehended unharmed, and in Cleveland, a white man armed with a rifle can walk around a black neighborhood unmolested by cops, because Ohio is an open carry state. Unless you’re a black child carrying a toy gun.

You know, I’m trying to track down a transcript of the press conference and can’t find one–I can find a transcript of McGinty’s remarks, but not anybody else.


8 thoughts on Tamir Rice

  1. McGinty is supposed to prosecute but he is on the same side as the cops because he went so far as to hire experts for the defense.
    The police shot Tamir within 2 seconds of jumping out of the car. So
    the cop had his gun already drawn. There was no time to say, “show your
    hands.” Justice failed.

  2. I just don’t understand. Is there any way to know what was presented to the grand jury? I don’t want to believe they were this evil.

      1. It makes it sound as if it was entirely on McGinty and that the grand jury typically does whatever the prosecutor tells them to.

        I wonder if there are any real checks on prosecutors.

      2. I wonder if there are any real checks on prosecutors.

        not when the suspect is white and/or rich, that’s for sure. there’s been a massive racial power imbalance ever since european colonization began here, so this kind of legal bias comes as no surprise.

      3. PrettyAmiable says:
        I wonder if there are any real checks on prosecutors.

        In the sense you’re implying: Not usually. When a prosecutor decides TO act, the defendant can appeal, but when a prosecutor decides NOT TO act (or when they act, and lose) the state cannot usually appeal. Sometimes a citizen can bring a private complaint but rarely so.

        It’s a bad outcome in this case–but overall, it’s risky if you allow public opinion to make the state target a particular defendant. HERE, the public push is pro-Tamir, anti-cop; more commonly it is the reverse.

  3. I’ve given up expecting these people not to be evil, but don’t you think they’d be a little more concerned to even give the superficial appearance of legitimacy? Do they seriously think everyone is going to watch them declare “No indictment” and then be all like, “well everything must be fine then!”

    I mean, I know there are some people who will cling to that mindset at any cost, but it’s getting harder and harder to persuade oneself at this point!

    1. I’ve given up expecting these people not to be evil, but don’t you think they’d be a little more concerned to even give the superficial appearance of legitimacy? Do they seriously think everyone is going to watch them declare “No indictment” and then be all like, “well everything must be fine then!”

      i think they’re well aware of the backlash. but there are in fact countless people who do think that everything is fine: those who are protected by the law as a result of privilege.

      millions of white people who have heard about the grand jury verdict for this case wont even bother to check the facts because they already have utmost faith in the US legal system. theres no struggle to appease a powerful social group when that group itself is mostly comprised of people who view the legal system as infallible in the first place. they see an article saying that a black person was killed by a cop, and they wont hesitate to either blame the victim for being murdered or say that they deserved death.

      the main reason so many of the latest killer cops have been justifying their violence with statements like “he was tall and scary and a thief” – as in the case of the murder of mike brown – is that they are well aware of the millions of racist people who support the actions of these murderers. all they need to do in order to patch up public relations or avoid disrupting them is to use key excuses and say the right words – just what will satisfy whites and appeal to their own racist views.

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