The attorneys representing Tamir Rice‘s family reacted to the decision not to charge the two officers in his death with a blistering statement against the prosecutor.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty announced today that a grand jury declined to bring charges against Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback. Rice had a toy gun on him, but Loehmann reportedly feared for his life and fatally shot Rice.

McGinty said he recommended no charges after reviewing the evidence, but in the Rice family attorneys’ statement, obtained by The Washington Post, they really go after McGinty for “abusing and manipulating the grand jury process to orchestrate a vote against indictment.”

They accuse McGinty of bringing in “so-called expert witnesses” with the intent of trying to “exonerate the targets of a grand jury investigation.”

The Rice family attorneys say McGinty showed special treatment to both officers from the beginning:

Prosecutor McGinty allowed the police officers to take the oath and read prepared statements to the grand jury without answering any questions on cross-examination. Even though it is black letter law that taking the stand waives the Fifth Amendment right to be silent, the prosecutor did not seek a court order compelling the officers to answer questions or holding the officers in contempt if they continued to refuse… The way Prosecutor McGinty has mishandled the grand jury process has compounded the grief of this family.

They conclude by asking the DOJ to conduct a “real investigation” into the shooting.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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