As you know, County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty has ignored the request of the family and attorneys of Tamir Rice to recuse himself from the case and is submitting evidence to the Grand Jury. The request for recusal was made because McGinty hired outside pro-police experts and publicly released their reports which described the shooting as “reasonable”. In an opinion article in the Plain Dealer this past Sunday, civil rights attorney Terry Gilbert supported the demand for recusal and denounced McGinty’s action as “irresponsible” and likely to have contaminated the grand jury. http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/10/tamir_rice_prosecution_claims.html The situation was further aggravated by the Plain Dealer which published detailed arguments of criminal defense attorneys that any crime by the police in this case would be difficult to prove. Neither McGinty nor the Plain Dealer made any reference to the advisory ruling of Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine that probable cause exists to charge the officers with murder and other crimes and his recommendation that the County and/or City prosecutor act accordingly. McGinty’s refusal to recuse himself means that unfortunately we face the likely prospect that he will not advocate to the Grand Jury for indictments and none will be returned as similarly happened in Ferguson and Staten Island. The situation with Tamir is even more serious since, as the videotape and reports of witnesses showed, not only was there no physical contact with the police, Tamir was not holding the toy gun when he was shot, made no furtive or threatening gesture, and was shot immediately without even being given any verbal warning. This was a summary and arbitrary execution by an officer who had been judged by another police department as emotionally unstable and unfit to use a firearm. To free the officers responsible for Tamir’s death from the requirement to defend their actions in court is both a gross miscarriage of justice and a dangerous expansion of police power that threatens public safety and is incompatible with democratic government. This would not be the first time McGinty has used biased “expertise” to deny justice to African Americans. As an assistant prosecutor , McGinty used this tactic in gaining conviction of Michael Green, a Black man falsely accused of raping an elderly patient in Cleveland Clinic. http://www.cleveland.com/burden/ Green spent 13 years in prison before being exonerated through the efforts of the Innocence Project. As a candidate for Prosecutor in 2011, McGinty promised that, if elected, he would do everything possible to dispel the widely held perception of racial bias in the county criminal justice system. Instead, he seems intent on becoming the poster child for the problem What can be done? Even though the case is now being presented to the Grand Jury, there is still time to urge McGinty to advocate for charges in his closing statement. We urge you and anyone or any group you can influence to contact McGinty’s office (216-443-7800, fax 216-698-2270) urging that he advocate for indictments to the Grand Jury and state publicly what his intention is. LaTonya Goldsby, Coordinator Dick Peery Rick Nagin Carmen Lane Co-convenors Tamir Rice Justice Committee