The officers involved in the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in November 2014 suffered little to no consequences, but now it’s being reported the minor punishment one officer received was even more minimal than we thought.
Officer Frank Garmback, who was disciplined for driving too close to Rice just seconds before he was killed, received a 10-day suspension. However, it was reported his suspension was reduced to five days by arbitrator Daniel Zeiser in April.
This information was discovered on Tuesday after an opinion Zeiser wrote was released as part of the public record. Zeiser claimed “the city incorrectly put Garmback’s disciplinary proceedings in the most serious disciplinary category, called the Group III category.”
The Group III category typically includes excessive uses of force or officer’s caught stealing on the job.
“Employing improper tactics, while not as serious as the conduct listed in Group III, is more than a minor violation and warrants more than a warning,” Zeiser wrote.
Therefore, his suspension was reduced to five days and no one knew until now.
Timothy Loehmann, the officer who shot and killed Rice on Nov. 22, 2014, outside of the Cudell Recreation Center was fired from the Cleveland Police Department. Not for killing Rice, but for lying on his application with the police department. According to CBS, he failed to reveal that he was fired from another police department, claiming instead that he resigned.
