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Anonymous Crashes Cleveland City Website in Retaliation for Police Killing of 12-Year-Old

Tamir Rice was shot in the torso by a police officer after brandishing a pellet gun at a playground outside a rec center.
Image via YouTube

The hacker collective Anonymous claimed responsibility for shutting down the Cleveland city website early on Monday in retaliation for the police killing of a 12-year-old boy carrying a toy air gun.

— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews)November 24, 2014

Tamir Rice died in hospital after being shot in the stomach by a Cleveland police officer. The Cleveland Police Department said in a statement that the child had not complied with orders to raise his hands. Rice instead allegedly reached towards his waste band, where the pellet gun was tucked. The child had reportedly been pointing the toy weapon at members of the public outside the Cudell Recreation Center, prompting a 911 call.

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According to a report on Cleveland.com that cited the deputy chief of police, Rice did not confront the officer verbally or physically. His father, Gregory Henderson, has questioned the use of lethal force.

"Why not taze him? You shot him twice, not once, and at the end of the day you all don't shoot for the legs, you shoot for the upper body," Henderson said.

The Department's Use of Deadly Force Investigation Team is currently investigating the incident.

Watch the Anonymous video communique below:

Stay up to date with the state of policing in the US with VICE News's Officer Involvedblog.