No Charges for Cops Who Killed Tamir Rice

The People Say This Cannot Go Down Like This!

Updated January 6, 2016 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

When the word came down on Monday, December 28 that NO CHARGES would be brought against the Cleveland cops who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, that ONCE AGAIN the system was letting the pigs get away with murder—people really did feel that this cannot go down like this!

In Cleveland and other cities, people were determined to make it clear right away that we aren’t going for this MURDEROUS LYNCH MOB LOGIC—that we DEMAND JUSTICE FOR TAMIR RICE, that we demand these KILLER COPS GO TO JAIL!

In Cleveland a group of people gathered to protest right away at the city park where Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun when he was shot down in less than two seconds by the cops who rolled up on him. People marched through the city to the police headquarters. Then on Tuesday, over 200 people rallied and marched in the streets—students and youth, of different nationalities, Black activists, people from peace movements, supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Party and the Cleveland Revolution Club members and family members from Cleveland and Detroit who have had loved ones killed by the police.

There was a deep spirit of outrage and anger. People chanted, “Indict, Convict, Send the Killer Cops to Jail—The Whole Damn System is Guilty as Hell” and disrupted traffic to get the message out that this was not a time for business as usual. At least 6 key intersections were blocked in the downtown area which caused the main highway, route 90, to be shut down at an on-ramp for over 45 minutes. Protesters chanted and linked arms at many intersections. Several people lay on the pavement for four minutes to symbolize the amount of time Tamir went before receiving medical treatment after he was shot. And at one point people surrounded two police cars. Alicia Kirkman, whose son Angelo Miller was killed by police in 2007, spoke to the crowd about her experience fighting the city in court saying, “All they want to do is pay us off... Enough is enough.”

The police were out in force, with horses and at one point with cops in riot gear and dogs. But people continued to protest undeterred for  six hours, despite these threatening pigs and the wind and cold. One Black man said, “With the police and their horses, they think they are going to intimidate us, but no, we are going to be out here. Tonight is just the beginning.”

On December 30, about 60 people gathered at 3 pm at the Justice Center to march and disrupt downtown Cleveland for a third day of protest. People marched into the major intersection of Public Square, stayed in the intersection, drew lots of attention, and held up traffic for hours. Half of the people stayed while the rest went on a march through downtown. Revolution Club members helped lead this march chanting, “How do we get out of this mess? Revolution—Nothing Less!” and “We young, we strong, we marchin’ all night long!” The march was spirited, reached lots of people along the way. Revolution newspaper sellers got out the revcom.us statement “More Police Murder… More Murdering Police Go Free. This Cannot Go Down Like This! This Cannot Go On!” A Revolution Club member said, “We reached a lot of people, a few joined the march. Some people wanted to get deeper into what was going on, especially a woman with children saying ‘They could do it to my child’ [referring to the police killing of Tamir Rice]. People are still out there and want it stopped. People on the march took up the “Revolution—Nothing Less!” chant. Some people are looking at revolution as a solution, people want to get out of this mess. At the end of six hours of marching people talked about getting organized for further protests.

On New Year’s Eve about 40 people gathered at the Justice Center for a fourth day of protest. A huge banner with a picture of Tamir Rice along with “Justice For Tamir,” “Stop Police Terror and Murder,” and “Which Side Are you On?” painted by a local artist led the march that took to the streets in the downtown entertainment area in defiance of the police who tried to intimidate the protesters. A good number of white people in downtown for New Year’s Eve took flyers with the revcom.us statement “More Police Murder… More Murdering Police Go Free. This Cannot Go Down Like This! This Cannot Go On!” and BAsics 1:13 and wanted to know about the protest. There were also knots of Black people waiting in the cold at bus stops, and they expressed much outrage at the cops who murdered Tamir not getting indicted. Five well-dressed white people joined the march, including a woman who had tears in her eyes as she heard the chant, “12 years old—how do you justify that?!” At midnight there was a moment of silence for all the victims of murder by police as people held each other’s hands.

In New York City, protesters took to the streets within hours of the announcement that Tamir Rice’s killers would go free. Monday night, some 200-300 people marched from Washington Square Park through the city and then across the Brooklyn Bridge. Chants included: “We are doing this for Tamir. March on without fear,” “I am Tamir Rice.” Also, “Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail. The whole damn system is guilty as hell.” On Tuesday, the Stop Mass Incarceration Network held a rally in Union Square.

In Los Angeles the Stop Mass Incarceration Network led a demonstration of about 20 people who protested and spoke out in front of LAPD Headquarters then marched through downtown and busy Grand Central Market chanting "Tamir was a boy, he was playing with a toy" and "Indict, convict, send the killer cops to jail, the whole damn system is guilty as hell!" People were hurting and furious at the non-indictment in Cleveland of the cops who murdered 12-year-old Tamir Rice. One white woman who had been walking downtown with her kids joined on the spot, and started to cry when she tried to speak, saying she didn't have the words but just wanted to be there with us. A woman whose brother was killed by Atlanta police in 2010 heard about the protest on the radio and came with her children and a sign they made with her brother's name, Nery Alfredo Lemus, and "We Are All Tamir." The Revolution Club represented with a poster of Bob Avakian's Three Strikes quote and spoke about the way out of what this system has done to Black people since it's foundation, and the liberation of all humanity, through Revolution Nothing Less and the science and strategy of communist revolution developed and led by BA. Other protests were held in San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle, Cincinnati; and Boston.

Killer Cops Walk Free!

Justice for Tamir Rice!

Indict, Convict and Send the Killer Cops to Jail!

Rise Up! Which Side Are You On?

 

 

 

Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly attributed the quote "All they want to do is pay us off... Enough is enough" to Tamir Rice's mother. This version corrects that. The quote is from Alicia Kirkman, whose son Angelo Miller was killed by police in 2007, from Cleveland at the rally and march on December 29, 2015.

 

 

 

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