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Tamir Rice shooting: Who are the 2 Cleveland officers? Here's why DOJ declined to prosecute them in 2014 killing

'Based on this evidence and the high burdens of the applicable federal laws, career prosecutors have concluded that there is insufficient evidence'

The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday, December 29, that it would not bring federal criminal charges against the two Cleveland police officers in the 2014 death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, saying the footage of the shooting was of too poor a quality for prosecutors to conclusively prove what had happened.

The DOJ announced that it found inadequate evidence to "support federal criminal charges against Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback". In a statement issued on December 29, officials stated that Rice's family attorneys were notified about the decision on December 28 "and today sent a letter to Mr. Rice's family explaining the findings of the investigation and reasons for the decision".

"The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers acted willfully. This high legal standard – one of the highest standards of intent imposed by law – requires proof that the officer acted with the specific intent to do something the law forbids," the department said. "It is not enough to show that the officer made a mistake, acted negligently, acted by accident or mistake, or even exercised bad judgment."

The video footage of the killing, which happened in daylight on November 22, 2014, reveals the traumatic series of events when Rice was shot and killed by the two police offers, seconds after their arrival. Tamir was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center in Cleveland when he was shot and killed by White officer Timothy Loehmann, who arrived at the scene with Officer Frank Garmback. The officers were called to the recreation center after a man drinking beer and waiting for a bus had called 911 to report that a "guy" was pointing a gun at people. The caller told a 911 dispatcher that it was probably a juvenile and the gun might be "fake", though that information was never sent to the officers.

The footage reviewed by federal prosecutors makes the series of events less clear. The grainy time-lapse video, which has no audio, "does not show detail or perspective" and the camera's view is blocked by a police patrol car, prosecutors said. In addition, they stated, though the positioning of the boy's arms suggests they were in the vicinity of his waist, "his hands are not visible in the video and it cannot be determined from the video what he was doing" and that they gave Tamir "multiple commands to show his hands before shooting".

"Based on this evidence and the high burdens of the applicable federal laws, career prosecutors have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Tamir did not reach for his toy gun; thus, there is insufficient evidence to establish that Officer Loehmann acted unreasonably under the circumstances," the department said. The statement also noted that Loehmann and Garmback were the only two witnesses present at the crime scene.

As soon as the news, that the two officers will not be prosecuted, made its way to social media, people started talking about it, as Rep Barbara Lee said, "We must put an end to the two systems of justice in this country. Tamir Rice should be alive today and there should be justice for his family." While another one said, "This is an injustice, period. It would be an even greater injustice if these two officers are still police officers. I hope they sleep well knowing that they killed a 12 year old child, that was playing with a toy gun."

Another one who saw the video said, "I saw the video. Several times. There was no reason to shoot that boy. No reason other than the officer was free to shoot to kill & ask questions later because #TamirRice was black. This decision sickens me. #BLM." And one said, "So having video of a murder still can't get you anywhere. This is wrong on so many levels. I feel for his family, they never got justice for their child."

One questioned, "Video quality too poor? It’s very clear; in a span of 2 seconds, the two @ClevelandPolice officers pulled up next to #TamirRice at an incredible speed, opened fire & killed him. 2 seconds for 2 cops to be judge, jury & executioner; didn’t even give Tamir a chance to surrender." While another one wrote, "Seriously, they deserve the death penalty. Cops will never learn unless examples are made. ABOLISH THE POLICE!"