Cleveland Just Added Insult to Injury Over Tamir Rice
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The City of Cleveland's decision to charge the family of Tamir Rice — a 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot by a police officer in 2014 — for the cost of their child's ambulance ride to the hospital and related medical expenses struck many as absurd and offensive on Wednesday. Now, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has weighed in, tweeting her outrage over the $500 fee on Thursday afternoon.
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The Democratic front-runner tweeted a link to the report on the controversial claim, filed by the city on Wednesday, and implored officials to take action. "Asking Tamir's family to pay for his ambulance is heartless," Clinton wrote. "Cleveland should drop this fee."
Assistant law director Carl Meyers filed the $500 claim, requesting that Tamir's estate pay for "ambulance advance life support" and mileage expenses for the ride to MetroHealth Medical Center on November 22, 2014. The report drew immediate condemnation from public officials and civil rights activists.
"The Rice family is disturbed by the city's behavior," the family's lawyer, Subodh Chandra, said in a statement. "The callousness, insensitivity, and poor judgment required for the city to send a bill — its own police officers having slain 12-year-old Tamir— is breathtaking. This adds insult to homicide."
On Thursday, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson apologized for the bill, stating that while the billing process was routine, it should have been flagged. He also said that he would evaluate whether disciplinary action is appropriate, Cleveland 19 News, a local ABC affiliate, reported.
The news of this $500 charge comes just two months after two Cleveland police officers were cleared of all charges related to the fatal shooting case.
