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The Cleveland Police Union sparked some backlash with a statement following the settlement agreement with the family of Tamir Rice.

The settlement, announced Monday, awarded the family $6 million by the city of Cleveland, which acknowledged no fault in the death. The 12-year-old Rice was shot and killed by a trainee police officer in November 2014 after the boy allegedly pulled out what was later identified as a toy gun. An Ohio grand jury did not indict the officer in December, leading to the family’s wrongful death suit against the city.

Within hours of the settlement announcement, the president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, Stephen Loomis issued a statement to the media expressing hope that Rice’s family would use part of the money to educate children on the “mishandling” of real and toy guns.

“We can only hope the Rice family and their attorneys will use a portion of this settlement to help educate the youth of Cleveland in the dangers associated with the mishandling of both real and facsimile firearms,” the statement read.  “Something positive must come from this tragic loss. That would be educating youth of the dangers of possessing a real or replica firearm.”

Reaction on social media was swift as seen by this sampling of tweets gathered by Twitchy, below. Though many blasted the police union as “monsters,” some posted reminders that the airsoft pellet gun Rice was wielding when he was shot had the orange safety cap removed, making it harder to distinguish from a regular firearm and police are human beings who make split second calls.

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You have got to be kidding me. BUT YOU AREN’T. https://t.co/D7c5ZturZPpic.twitter.com/Vj3LWc2ho0

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) April 25, 2016

@chrisgeidner Can they really be this horrible? They can’t, can they?

— Aggie (@Weiland87) April 25, 2016

@chrisgeidner and by the way, 6 million reward for not supervising their kid and letting them point fake guns that look real at ppl

— Vincent P (@vp0804) April 25, 2016

Shorter Cleveland Police Union: “I hope you use this settlement from us shooting your son dead to teach kids how to not get shot dead.”

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) April 25, 2016

@chrisgeidner@AnaMardoll nothing about better training/screening officers. Just, ‘black kids need to be careful what toys they have.’

— Aaron Whitrock (@AaronWhitrock) April 25, 2016

@chrisgeidner Use the money to teach other kids who get shitty parenting NOT to brandish guns- fake or real at anyone.

— Vincent P (@vp0804) April 25, 2016

@chrisgeidner I wonder if they’ll use any of their union dues to educate the officers on how to recognize a toy and not just shoot on site.

— Chuck Gamble (@ChuckGamble1968) April 25, 2016

@alyssaharad @chrisgeidner Can either of you two tell which is the toy? pic.twitter.com/Rwn9Y5qwSy

— The Jerk (@TheJerkMarvin) April 26, 2016

@chrisgeidner @JesseLaGreca this is disgusting

— boston (@narents) April 25, 2016

@narents @chrisgeidner it truly is. Like it was the little boys fault somehow that a trigger happy cop shot him in 2 seconds for nothing

— Jesse LaGreca (@JesseLaGreca) April 25, 2016

@chrisgeidner Sorry we shot your son, it was a tragedy for us. It was his fault though

— Dan (@DoghouseDano) April 25, 2016

Kill a black child then mock his family. MONSTERS. MT @chrisgeidner: You have got to be kidding me. BUT YOU AREN’T. pic.twitter.com/oAYE2tcR2i

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) April 25, 2016

@chrisgeidner What a vile and disgusting statement coming from Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association. Nobody’s falling for it, either.

— JOBoomr (@JOBoomr) April 25, 2016

@chrisgeidner I keep pinching myself. This has GOT to be a dream. NOBODY is this damn stupid.

— Brendt Wayne Waters (@bwsqrd) April 25, 2016

@chrisgeidner maybe they should teach cops to get out of their car and give a child a chance to drop their toy guns before they shoot them

— Bill Nagorski (@BNagorski) April 26, 2016

@littlelodestar @peacebang @chrisgeidner Right. Both parts of that. So much WTF happening here.

— Courtney (@C_Rev) April 26, 2016

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Frieda Powers

Senior Staff Writer
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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