Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann shot my 12 year old son — Tamir Rice — less than one second after getting out of his car. Now Cleveland’s police union wants him back on the force.

The Cleveland police department’s investigation after Loehmann murdered Tamir revealed that Loehmann had lied on his job application, claiming he left another police department (in Independence, Ohio) for “personal reasons.” In fact, he had resigned from the Independence Police Department when he learned they were going to fire him — because they had determined he was unstable and unfit to be a police officer. After discovering this lie, the Cleveland Police department fired Loehmann — but Cleveland’s police union immediately appealed the decision and is trying to get him reinstated.

An arbitrator recently ruled against Loehmann and the police union’s attempt to get him back on Cleveland’s police force. That would usually be the end of it — but the police union is still fighting to make Loehmann a police officer again.

Timothy Loehmann should never have been hired, and he should never have been in a position to take Tamir’s life. He’s unstable, dishonest, dangerous, and he’s already killed unjustly and recklessly. He definitely shouldn’t be on the streets with a badge and gun, and ever since he murdered Tamir I’ve been fighting to make sure that doesn’t happen.

When Loehmann tried to get a job at another police department in Ohio, he was forced to withdraw his application after I spoke out, along with thousands of people in Ohio and across the country. Now it’s time for us to speak out again.

Far too often, police unions succeed in quietly getting corrupt and dangerous officers back in their jobs after the public’s attention has moved on. That’s what they’re trying to do here. We can stop it from happening — and make it less likely in the future — by publicly confronting the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association.

"Stop defending the officer who killed Tamir Rice and trying to get him back on the police force. Putting Timothy Loehmann back on the streets with a badge and gun would threaten public safety, and send the dangerous message that police officers are above accountability for their actions."