Samaria Rice pictured in 2018. | Source: NBC / Getty
The mother of Tamir Rice has publicly accused several high-profile social justice activists of exploiting controversial killings of Black people for financial gain.
Samaria Rice, whose 12-year-old son was killed in 2014 after a police officer shot him within seconds of seeing him in a Cleveland park, sounded off on social media Sunday night and into Monday with a variety of posts that seemed to be primarily aimed at Tamika Mallory but also included prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump and others.
Her outburst on Facebook seemed to be prompted by Mallory’s appearance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
“I have tried to stay off this shit,” Rice posted before apparently misspelling Mallory’s first name.
“Tamike and the crew you bitches chasing clout along with, Sonney, Crump , and Lee,” Rice added.
“Sonney” was likely a reference to Mysonne Linen, a co-founder of Mallory’s Until Freedom organization. “Lee” referred to prominent civil rights attorney Lee Merritt.
“Yall have literally fuck our fight up i hope not another family soul used yall to represent them…,” Rice added. “Yall might ass well be junior pigs cops…..”
In subsequent Facebook posts, Rice wrote that she was “tired of you black lives matters” and named “Mallory and crew” while directing expletives at her and the aforementioned lawyers.
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A common refrain among the social media posts was Rice saying how none of the people she named have “lost anything in this fight.
Mallory appeared on the Grammy telecast during rapper Lil Baby’s performance that included the activist demanding social justice from the Biden administration.
“So many people are looking for institutions like the Grammys to step to the plate and to allow us to voice the real true deep feelings that so many communities are trying to process every days,” Mallory said during the performance.
Rice’s comments on social media came one day after the anniversary of the police killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, where Mallory and her Until Freedom organization helped raise awareness of the untimely death of the 26-year-old EMT.
Crump was initially part of the legal team representing Rice following Tamir’s police killing in 2014. But nearly a year later, Samaria Rice moved to drop him from the case.
Both Crump and Mallory have been on the front lines of the fight to defund the police and other social justice initiatives that have taken off in the past year.
Crump, for instance, was involved in the recent historic settlement that will see the city of Minneapolis pay the family of George Floyd $27 million. Mallory all but led the charge in Lousiville for months and famously excoriated Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, publicly calling him a “sellout” after it was discovered that he rigged the grand jury process in order to prevent any criminal indictments that would hold police accountable for Breonna Taylor’s killing.
Samaria Rice, fr her part, has never relented in the fight to bring her son’s killer to justice. On what would have been Tamir’s 18th birthday in June, Samaria Rice said it’s been for her to move past her son’s police killing.
“You don’t get over nothing like this,” she said back in June. “It’s an empty feeling of loss when you don’t have your puzzle complete.” She said she was only able to endure “through the grace of God” and admitted that seeing videos of the recent police killings of Rayshard Brooks and George Floyd have left her “sick mentally, physically, emotionally.”
This is a developing story that will be updated as additional information becomes available.
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Tamir Rice’s Mom Reflects On His 18th Birthday As She Continues Fight Against His Killer
