Timothy Loehmann, the police officer who shot and killed Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Black boy, in Cleveland, Ohio nearly eight years ago, was sworn in as the Tioga Borough Police Officer in Tioga, Pennsylvania.
Loehmann was sworn in at the July 5, 2022 Borough meeting, an announcement that reignited anger about the killing, which has been cited as one of several that inspired the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
According to Tioga Mayor David Wilcox, the town council did not allow him to see Loehmann’s resume when they interviewed him. Wilcox said he was not involved in the hiring process.
Council President Steve Hazlett announced that Loehmann had been hired via a post on Facebook.
A photograph he posted shows Loehmann being sworn in.
Loehmann shot and killed Rice on November 22, 2014 after he and his partner Frank Garmback responded to a police dispatch call regarding a male who had a gun. A caller reported that a male was pointing "a pistol" at random people at the Cudell Recreation Center, a park in the City of Cleveland's Public Works Department.
Although the caller told the police that the pistol was "probably fake," and that the "male" in question is probably a juvenile," it was later found that dispatchers did not relay this information to Loehmann or Garmback.
Both officers said that they saw Rice reaching for his waistband for what was later identified as a toy pellet gun after being told to "show me your hands," but video of the shooting shows that Loehmann immediately jumped out of the car and shot Rice from a distance of less than 10 feet.
A grand jury did not indict Loehmann, a decision that sparked considerable protest both in Ohio and other states. The Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to bring federal charges against him, a decision it reaffirmed earlier this year.
In the aftermath of the shooting it was revealed that Loehmann, in his previous job as a police officer in the Cleveland suburb of Independence, Ohio, had been deemed an emotionally unstable recruit and unfit for duty.
Loehmann was fired from his job in 2017 after investigators determined that he had witthheld this information on his application to join the Cleveland Police Department. Last year, the Ohio Supreme Court denied his bid to get his job back.
The news that Loehmann had been hired to work as a police officer again generated outrage online
\u201cTamir Rice was 12 when Timothy Loehmann gunned him down in 0.792 seconds. Now he\u2019s a cop in Tioga Borough, PA. \n\nThis is what \u201caccountability\u201d for the state-sanctioned drive-by of a Black child looks like in this politically and morally bankrupt nation.\n\nhttps://t.co/AU71UE6NiZ\u201d— Kirsten West Savali (@Kirsten West Savali) 1657155055
\u201cTimothy Loehmann, the ex- Cleveland cop who killed Tamir Rice, is now an officer in Tioga, Pennsylvania. \n\nCancel culture is a 12-year-old Black child shot to death by a man who suffered no consequences and still gets to be a cop.\u201d— Ren\u00e9e Graham \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Ren\u00e9e Graham \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1657151948
\u201cI am Frightened for the lives of black children living in that Pennsylvania community. \ud83d\ude31\nBREAKING: Timothy Loehmann, the #Cleveland police officer who shot and killed #TamirRice, has been hired as a police officer in Tioga Borough, PA, according to Mayor David Wilcox.\u201d— Neil Hadyn Nicholson (@Neil Hadyn Nicholson) 1657157766
\u201cAlso, the @TheJusticeDept refuses to prosecute Timothy Loehmann for murdering a 12-year old kid holding a toy gun. Contact them too.\n\nBut this whole system from top to bottom colluding w/each other is why we say #DefundThePolice and fund community-led safety programs instead.\u201d— Kirstie Ganobsik #Landback (@Kirstie Ganobsik #Landback) 1657192661
\u201cAnd this is how police officers get off scot-free Timothy Loehmann killed Tamir Rice age 12 in Cleveland, Ohio 11/22/2014 and now he moved on with his life to Tioga Borough, PA.\u201d— \ud83d\udc1d\ud835\udc46\ud835\udc34\ud835\udc46\ud835\udc46\ud835\udc4c \ud835\udc44\ud835\udc48\ud835\udc38\ud835\udc38\ud835\udc41 \ud835\udc37\ud835\udc38\ud835\udc38\ud83d\udc1d (@\ud83d\udc1d\ud835\udc46\ud835\udc34\ud835\udc46\ud835\udc46\ud835\udc4c \ud835\udc44\ud835\udc48\ud835\udc38\ud835\udc38\ud835\udc41 \ud835\udc37\ud835\udc38\ud835\udc38\ud83d\udc1d) 1657158915
\u201cThis is disgusting on many levels.\nhttps://t.co/Cxi6YKBhE9\u201d— Jimmy Malone, Liberal & Ultra-Masker (@Jimmy Malone, Liberal & Ultra-Masker) 1657195282
\u201cThe Tioga, PA Police hired the cop, Timothy Loehmann, who killed 12 year old Tamir Rice in Cleveland 8 years ago & IT\u2019S NEVER GOING TO SIT RIGHT WITH ME. A cop who failed the sheriff exam, got fired by one dept & killed a kid & watched him bleed out for 4 mins shouldn\u2019t be a cop.\u201d— Dyjuan Tatro (@Dyjuan Tatro) 1657160046
\u201cTimothy Loehmann, murderer of Tamir Rice, was sworn in as police officer in Tioga, Pennsylvania.\n\nTioga Borough office phone number: (570) 835-5226\nRepresentiative Clint Owlett (R) office phone number: (570) 724-1390 \n\n(All of this information is public.)\n\n#BlackLivesMatter\u201d— \ud83c\udf39 malibu satan (@\ud83c\udf39 malibu satan) 1657147302
\u201cThe last government body to hire Timothy Loehmann lost a $6M settlement after the officer shot and killed an unarmed 12-year old at a playground. I wonder if he is a better cop now?\n\nHere's an image of the unarmed child he shot and killed.\u201d— David J \u267b\ufe0f\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udc36\ud83d\udc36 4xVax/Mask #VoteBlue2022 (@David J \u267b\ufe0f\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udc36\ud83d\udc36 4xVax/Mask #VoteBlue2022) 1657190541
The news that Loehmann had been hired to work as an officer in another town angered Samaria Rice, who criticized Tioga officials for giving a second chance to the man who killed her son.
Samaria Rice said Loehmann's hiring is a sign that the "system is broken because police reform is actually not working," adding that Loehmann is "a bad apple for anybody's police department across the country."
