Again with This Guy

[Content Note: Police brutality; racism; guns; death.]

Last month, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty's office released two reports from outside investigators which asserted that Officer Tim Loehmann, who killed Tamir Rice, had "acted reasonably in deciding last year to shoot when he confronted the 12-year-old boy carrying what turned out to be a replica gun." Then, earlier this week, McGinty accused the Rice family "of being 'economically motivated' in their pursuit to bring the officer responsible to trial."

I wrote on Monday: "There is no way this guy is fit to oversee this investigation and possible trial."

Further proving the point, McGinty's office has now "released another expert opinion which describes the actions of the officer involved as 'objectively reasonable.'"

The new expert opinion, written by W Ken Katsaris, a veteran law enforcement trainer from Florida, also argues that while Rice's death in November 2014 was a "tragedy," it would "also be a tragedy" if officer Timothy Loehmann lost his job.

...Katsaris concluded: "This unquestionably was a tragic loss of life, but to compound the tragedy by labeling the officers conduct as anything but objectively reasonable would also be a tragedy, albeit not carrying with it the consequences of the loss of life, only the possibility of loss of career."

Madison, the attorney for Rice's father, described this final observation as, "insensitive at the least."

Rage seethe boil.

The first time McGinty released expert reports, I wrote: "I don't see any reason at all for publicly disclosing these reports except to exploit that influence on behalf of a killer cop." Which is the case Tamir Rice's family has been making over and over:

Lawyers for the Rice family told the Guardian that McGinty's decision to continue to drip feed expert opinions before the grand jury process was completed was a "complete evil misuse" of the process.

"It's apparent that these efforts are to justify his [McGinty's] true intent; to inoculate the public and brace them for the ultimate decision, which is that there's not going to be any indictment out of the grand jury," said attorney Walter Madison, who represents Rice's father Leonard Warner.

"I believe it is a complete evil misuse of a grand jury process he's converted into a private, secret trial designed to exonerate these officers."

This much is patently clear. And yet, incredibly, McGinty defends his decision to publicly release these expert reports by claiming that he's engaging in transparency: "McGinty defended the decision to release Katsaris's expert opinion before the grand jury process had concluded, arguing in a statement on Thursday that it represented a 'more open and transparent protocol.' The investigation into Rice's death was the most thorough inquiry in the county's history 'and there has never before been such an open process.' He added that the investigation was still gathering evidence."

That investigators are still gathering evidence is an indictment of his decision to release these inflammatory reports, not a justification for it.

This is not justice. This is a farce, in service of white supremacy.