This is What’s Trending Today:
The relatives of Tamir Rice will receive a $6 million settlement from Cleveland, Ohio.
Rice was 12 years old when he was killed by police officers in November 2014. Rice was playing with a toy gun in a park. The police thought it was real.
Rice, an African-American, became one of the symbols of the Black Lives Matter social justice campaign. The movement highlighted a number of young black men and women who were killed by police officers in recent years.
Michael Brown was killed by officers near St. Louis, Missouri in the summer of 2014. Freddie Gray died while in custody of the Baltimore, Maryland police in the spring of 2015.
Things got tense in Ferguson tonight after police shooting earlier in the day pic.twitter.com/PUnIh8zkmd
— David Carson (@PDPJ) August 10, 2014
The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was one of the most important trending topics of 2015. The social justice movement continues to be part of the political conversation in the U.S. as the presidential election gets closer.
A grand jury decided not to charge the police officers who killed Rice with a crime. They concluded that the use of deadly force against Rice was justified. They said the officer did not know if the gun was real.
The decision generated more protests in Cleveland.
Rice’s family filed a “wrongful death” lawsuit against the city and the police officers shortly after Rice was killed. A judge announced the decision to award $6 million to Rice’s family on Monday.
Lots of people had something to say about it on social media. #TamirRice was one of Twitter’s top hashtags on Monday.
Many people reacted to one part of the settlement. It says the city does not have to accept responsibility for doing something wrong.
One person wrote “the settlement [with] #TamirRice is infuriating.”
the settlement w/ #TamirRice is infuriating due to some "mutally exclusive" flirtation i.e, we will PAY but won't admit doing anything wrong
— thas MY shot (@nobullwarrior) April 25, 2016
Another, Devin Lamar, wrote “I'm glad #TamirRice family is getting $6 million from the city of Cleveland, but it'd be a lot cheaper to just train police not to shoot us.”
I'm glad #TamirRice family is getting $6 million from the city of Cleveland, but it'd be a lot cheaper to just train police to not shoot us
— ... (@Nat_Turner_87) April 25, 2016
Cerece Rennie Murphy wrote, “no amount of money could ever make this right.”
Still, no amount of money could ever make this right. Thinking of you sweet angel. #TamirRice https://t.co/AxBkwVFGRp
— Cerece Rennie Murphy (@CereceRMurphy) April 25, 2016
While many people have sympathy for Rice and his family, others think it is time for the people behind the Black Lives Matter movement to take action.
One of those critics is President Barack Obama. During his visit to London over the weekend, Obama was asked about racial profiling. He turned his attention to Black Lives Matter during his answer.
Obama said “[when] elected officials or people who are in a position to start bringing about change are ready to sit down with you, then you can’t just keep on yelling at them.”
He continued, saying “the value of social movements and activism is to get you at the table, get you in the room, and then to start trying to figure out how is this problem going to be solved.”
And that’s What’s Trending Today.
I’m Dan Friedell.
Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.
What do you think about the Tamir Rice settlement? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
Words in This Story
racial profiling – n. the act of suspecting a person of a crime because of their skin color, religion or ethnic background
justified – adj. something that is right or reasonable
grand jury – n. a group of people who look at the evidence against someone who has been accused of a crime in order to decide if there should be a trial
