Cleveland Employee Terminated For Facebook Comment Regarding Tamir Rice

Another one bites the dust.

In November 2014, 12-year old Tamir Rice was killed by Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann just seconds after Loehmann pulled up to him.  At the time of his death, Tamir was playing with a toy gun that was missing the orange warning tip that is supposed to identify it as a toy.   The man who called 911 said that the gun probably wasn’t real, and the person with it was a kid.  The dispatcher did not relay that however.

After he was shot by Loehmann, Tamir was reported to the hospital to be a man in his early 20’s.   Tamir’s family lived across the street from the park where he was killed.  His 14-year old sister ran out to come to his aid, and could have given officers facts about his age had she not been handcuffed and put in the back of the police car and threatened with arrest unless she remained silent.

Police dispatcher Constance Hollinger took the initial 9-1-1 call from a man outside the Cudell Recreation Center who said that someone was pointing a gun that was “probably fake” at people.  She passed it on to Beth Mandi, who dispatched the police to Cudell Commons on Nov. 22, when Tamir Rice was shot. Beth Mandi was fired from her first police dispatcher job in September 2008.  That same month, she was arrested and charged with bringing a gun to a bar.

In April 2015, Beth Mandi was absent from her job without leave, and on July 16, 201, she resigned.

In September 2015, Constance Hollinger was suspended for one day for being “rude and unprofessional” to a woman who called to report a fatal accident.  That call happened back in January 2015.

On February 25, 2016, Cleveland Metropolitan School District officer Matt Cicero was suspended for 30 days for writing comments on Facebook saying,  ‘Tamir rices momma just want money.  Lets make the proper changes……raise your kids not to play with fake guns stupid b***h.”  Cicero had been an armed mobile patrol officer for five years at the school district where Tamir was a student.

Last week, voters let Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty know that they no longer want him in office.  McGinty is accused of presenting the case before the grand jury to guarantee that Loehmann not be indicted for killing Tamir.  McGinty’s opponent, Michael O’Malley, received more votes in the Democratic primary.  Since there is no Republican opponent, O’Malley is expected to take office in January 2017.

Timothy Loehmann

Loehmann’s actions of November 22,2014 are under a new review. According to Mayor Frank Jackson, Loehmann and his partner, Frank Garmback, remain on restricted duty — “basically in an office doing paperwork” — pending the new review.  Police Chief Calvin Williams said the administrative committee, which includes civilians, will start from scratch, beginning with the initial calls to 911.

In February, a Cleveland EMS supervisor made a comment on Facebook resulting in an investigation.  This past Tuesday, he was terminated from his job.

According to the NY Daily News, Jamie Marquardt allegedly wrote, “I wish I was in the park that day as he terrorized innocent patrons by pointing a gun at them. I am upset I did not get the chance to kill the little criminal.”

“The posts were not acceptable and do not represent the views or standards of the City of Cleveland administration, Department of Public Safety or Division of Emergency Medical Services,” city spokesman Dan Williams told Cleveland.com.

Looks as if Tamir’s spirit is kicking butt and taking names.