RTThe Hacktivist collective Anonymous have launched an attack on the official site for the City of Cleveland after 12-year-old Temir Rice was shot dead by local police for carrying a BB gun.
In a video released on Monday, Anonymous lambasts Cleveland City Police, whose alleged inability to train their officers properly is said to have led to the tragedy.
“This rookie officer apparently was not trained. The police department he works for is to blame for this lack of appropriate training. Officers are equipped with many non-lethal options such as Taser guns. Why did he not use a Taser on this child? Shooting him in cold blood was not necessary with these non-lethal options available,” a statement from the collective said.
The group further questioned whether the police were so “moronic” that they were unable to use anything other than lethal force to deescalate the situation. The called the justification that the police“feared for their lives” ludicrous, as Rice was only 12-years-old and armed with an air soft gun. The message concluded with a vow to target all municipalities whose “ignorant” and poorly-trained officers pose a threat to society.
“Police of the United States you will learn in due time once Anonymous has shut down your sites that we will not stand for your ignorant, untrained rookie cops.”
On Monday, Twitter was awash with the hashtag #TangoDown, the telltale sign of an Anonymous-affiliated attack. Many of the tweets provided links to the official site for the city of Cleveland, whichwas inaccessible at the time of writing.
Rice was shot at around 3:30pm local time on Saturday, at Cleveland’s Cudell Rec Center after police responded to a distress call about a male allegedly threatening people nearby with a gun.
According to Cleveland police statement, upon arrival on scene, officers located the suspect and advised him to raise his hands.
“The suspect did not comply with the officers’ orders and reached to his waistband for the gun. Shots were fired and the suspect was struck in the torso,” the statement reads.
Upon further investigation, the boy’s “weapon” turned out to be an air gun “resembling a semi-automatic pistol, with the orange safety indicator removed,” the statement adds.
The individual who called in called 911 had told dispatchers the boy was on a swing set and was scaring people with a pistol that was “probably fake.”
The president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association told The Associated Press, however, that the officers responding to the incident were not told the caller believed the gun was not real.
Rice, who was shot twice in the stomach, died of his wounds on Sunday. Two officers have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
One officer somehow managed to sustain an injury to his ankle and was transported to Fairview Hospital for treatment, police said.
http://rt.com/usa/208255-anonymous-cleveland-police-shooting/
Soooo, a poor innocent little child sees a gun in a playground and decides to pick it up and stick it in his pants. Police show up, responding to a call that didn’t reflect the possibility that the gun may be “fake”, instruct the “innocent little child” to “hands up”, and he reaches for the gun and gets shot. Imagine my (lack of) surprise. That kid knew what he was doing – emulating his role models. And I’m sure his father has something to say….maybe now….now?….all I hear are the sounds of crickets. Well that, and the usual baiting.
One less thug. “Pants up, Don’t loot”.
No one can know what really happened. But a twelve year old American child is dead, shot at what is seems was a distance, with no attempt by two cops to investigate the situation. Cops shoot dogs, kids and people, often with little or no provocation. It’s time it stopped.
I’m not trying to be harsh, I truly am sorry a 12 year old life is gone, I really am. And I know that officer violence is an increasing problem that surely needs to be dealt with. But to lay this solely at the officer’s feet just doesn’t seem right, either. And no attempt by two cops to investigate the situation? They were called to a report of someone with a gun on a playground, they responded, told the suspect to raise his hands, who then instead reached for the “gun” in his waistband. Tragedy, yes. Avoidable? Yes. I still believe the larger problem is him emulating his role models, which unfortunately, doesn’t appear to include good parenting examples.
I’m just south of Cleveland. They just said the cop shot him within ten feet.
Surely the cop had a chance to evaluate the situation. It was a KID in a park, for cryin’ out loud.
Sorry, but if a kid in a park scares you, maybe police work isn’t your best choice.
He got within 10 feet. Seems crummy your first instinct is to pull your gun and fire.
Reminds me of a scene in “V for Vendetta”: a girl is spraying a V on a Sutler Party sign, one of Sutler’s goons shoots her dead, and the next thing you the whole community stands up to the goon… I really do think we are past the point of pleading with cops to cut the police state crappola…for their own sakes as well!
yeah its high time we stop asking and start telling them with no options..Knock it the F off or were comin to your front doors next
they have non-lethal options,, they just dont G.A.F. anymore, and so neither should we .. the only time they are going to learn is when it directly affects them
high time we directly affect them
There needs to be a massive campaign to get people to STOP CALLING THE POLICE! They are criminals and they NEVER show up to “help”.
Under NO circumstances should anyone ever call the pigs. JUST DON’T do it. Ignore them and let them know they are not only not wanted or needed…they need to understand they are despised, hated, and viewed with scorn.
Rush a gun, run from a knife. It is said, you can close 20 feet in 1.5 seconds, so at 10 feet and a12 year old who maybe never fired a hand gun before, what would he hit?