CLEVELAND– As the Cavaliers were playing the Suns in Phoenix Monday night, a group on Twitter was calling for the team’s star to sit out.
The hashtag #NoJusticeNoLeBron was in response to a grand jury’s decision not to indict two Cleveland police officers in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Some advocates hoped LeBron James would not play to bring attention to the issue.
@KingJames, your FB says “I promise to never forget where I came from.”
Cleveland needs you.#NoJusticeNoLeBron pic.twitter.com/B5H9Os6Tn3
— Benjamin Young Savage (ᐱᓐᒋᐱᓐ) (@benjancewicz) December 29, 2015
.@KingJames Take a stand Lebron. You have the opportunity to use your status to make a real difference. #NoJusticeNoLebron #TamirRice
— #RIPBassemMasri 🙏 (@Delo_Taylor) December 29, 2015
No cynic ever changed the world… #NoJusticeNoLebron #TamirRice pic.twitter.com/XEXnefSyoC
— TariqTouré طارق تورى (@TariqToure) December 29, 2015
Officers were responding to reports of a male with a gun outside the Cudell Recreation Center on Cleveland’s west side on Nov. 22, 2014 when they encountered the 12-year-old. Police said Rice did not follow commands to drop the weapon, which they later learned was airsoft.
On Monday, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office announced the grand jury, which heard testimony from the officers and Tamir’s mother, decided against charges.