Shortly after a Cleveland police officer shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice to death while being mistaken for carrying a real gun, nine Cleveland officers have filed a discrimination lawsuit, reported ThinkProgress.
According to the lawsuit, officer plaintiffs assert that the police department treat non-African American officers “substantially harsher” than African American officers involved in similar incidents. Specifically, the suit cites a 2012 when 12 officers fired 130 shots into a car after a chase, killing the unarmed men inside.
An internal investigation discovered that several officers had amended their official statements, “misidentified the suspects, and did not specify that police officers has fired shots.” In a separate, earlier lawsuit related to the incident, the city of Cleveland settled for $3 million.
As a result, nine officers, who filed this latest lawsuit, were punished with three days of administrative leave, restricted duty for 45 days, and denied overtime pay. Also, they were banned from active duty for 16 months after the incident because of “media and political pressure.”
Because the punishments deferred any potential promotions and denied them “a substantial amount of income,” the nine officers filed the lawsuit last week.
With national protests springing up because of the Darren Wilson decision and Rice’s killing, massive national attention has been focused on American law enforcement. Millions of people are calling for some kind of reform for our law enforcement system.
Concerning Tamir Rice, it was later found that the boy had not threatened police or even showed signs of aggression. The video evidence doesn’t show any type of standoff. The police car pulled up, and the boy was shot dead before the driving officer even exited the police cruiser.
This police state is growing at an alarming pace. Cops shoot down young people with an entitled sense of impunity, and they get off scot-free. What’s worse is that nine Cleveland police officers have the audacity to file a lawsuit claiming “discrimination.” The investigation found the officers guilty of wrongdoing, and they were punished.
