(CNN) The US Justice Department announced Tuesday it found insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges against two officers in relation to the fatal 2014 shooting of Tamir Rice in an Ohio park. Rice, 12, was shot and killed outside of a recreation center by then-Cleveland police Officer Timothy Loehmann, who authorities said mistook a black, toy airsoft pistol for a real firearm. The death of Rice, who was Black, in November 2014 grew to exemplify the allegations of excessive use of force by police that have defined the Black Lives Matter movement. Loehmann, who was in field training, arrived at the scene in a patrol car driven by Officer Frank Garmback. According to the release, federal prosecutors with both the Civil Rights Division and the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio concluded that they could not prove that Rice's constitutional rights were violated or the officers obstructed justice.

Source: CNN December 29, 2020 23:58 UTC