Zoe Salzman, an attorney for Tamir Rice's family, joined HuffPost Live on Tuesday to talk about the grand jury decision not to indict the officers involved in the fatal shooting of the 12-year-old Cleveland boy.
Salzman told host Alex Miranda that the decision was difficult for the family, but not completely unexpected. Salzman specifically called out prosecutor Tim McGinty's handling of the case, which Rice's family condemned.
"It was incredibly disappointing for the family to get the prosecutor's and the grand jury's decision yesterday, but it was hardly surprising given the way the prosecutor has really mishandled and abused the grand jury process," Salzman said. "He's really made it clear for months now that he was committed to exonerating these officers, not prosecuting them."
Salzman questioned McGinty, who said that Rice's death resulted from a "perfect storm of human error." The attorney added that officer Timothy Loehmann's quick decision to shoot Rice, which was displayed in a surveillance video, should have been enough to warrant an indictment. Salzman said:
There's no question that this video shows the police shooting Tamir within less than one second of the car pulling up in front of him. I wouldn't call that a "mistake." I think that's criminal conduct that deserves to be prosecuted, and prosecutor McGinty's decision to exonerate these officers is really shocking in the face of that video.
Despite the grand jury decision in Ohio, Salzman said the family still has hope for intervention from the Department of Justice, which is continuing its independent review of Rice's death.
Watch the HuffPost Live interview with attorney Zoe Salzman above.
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