Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange Executive Director, issued the following statement:

“ColorOfChange members are outraged at the tragic police killing of Tamir Rice and the unconscionable amount of time his family has been forced to wait for the most basic forms of accountability. Next month will mark 1 year since Cleveland police brutally gunned down Tamir while he was playing in a park, and prosecutor McGinty hasn’t even presented the case to a grand jury. It’s despicable.

“Instead of doing his job and advocating for Tamir, McGinty is going out of his way to defend the indefensible. In June, a federal judge found there was legal standing to charge Officer Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback with murder and assault for Tamir’s killing. Yet, instead of moving the case forward, McGinty is playing politics with Tamir’s life. He hasn’t even released the second video of Tamir’s killing but released discredited “expert” reports saying Tamir’s killing was ‘justified.’ That is not what integrity and transparency looks like.

“McGinty’s misconduct is part of a much larger systemic problem targeting Black communities in Cleveland and across the country. Local prosecutors work too closely with police on the day to day to hold them accountable for racial discrimination, corruption and violence. Shamefully, for every 1,000 people killed by police, only 1 officer is ever convicted. Tamir’s family deserves justice; Tanisha Anderson’s family deserves justice; Sandra Bland’s family deserves justice; And the only way we’ll see that happen is if an independent special prosecutor steps in.”

“Holding police accountable is critical to ending anti-Black policing in Cleveland. If state leadership continue to allow prosecutors like McGinty to corrupt the judicial process than we can expect to see more and more Black lives lost and justice denied. In fact, no local prosecutor should be investigating local police. ColorOfChange members are committed to securing a special prosecutor for Tamir Rice and police violence victims across the state.”

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With more than 1 million members, ColorOfChange is the country’s largest online civil rights organization