(CLEVELAND, OH, 7/8/2015) – Today The Cleveland 8, a group of clergy and community activists, released a video and open letter criticizing the abuse of the grand jury process in the Tamir Rice shooting by Cleveland Police.

The open letter condemns the disregard by municipal and county prosecutors of Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine’s June 11 ruling of probable cause in the death of Tamir Rice.  The group states that prosecutors are exhibiting an egregious disregard for the criminal justice process by failing to take appropriate action on the probable cause ruling.

“We are working to ensure procedural justice is not derailed as we saw with the abuse of the grand jury process in Ferguson and Staten Island,” said Julia Shearson, a member of the Cleveland 8 and executive director of the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland). “This open letter makes clear that we will not stand for a two-tier system of justice in which the police are given special treatment denied to ordinary people in the grand jury system.

View the video BELOW with the letter in its entirety is attached.

VIDEO: Cleveland 8 Final Cut

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

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CONTACT: CAIR-Cleveland Executive Director Julia Shearson, 216-830-2247, jshearson@cair.com