This year鈥檚 choice of speaker at Kent State鈥檚 May 4th commemorations is drawing criticism as well as praise.
Samaria Rice 鈥� the mother of Tamir Rice -- will speak during the events Wednesday to commemorate the during anti-war protests. Alan Canfora was one of those shot, and he helped found the in 1975 to plan the annual remembrance. Since then, speakers ranging from then-Congressman Sherrod Brown to Joan Baez have provided a tie-in with current events, and the Tamir Rice situation is no exception.
鈥淚 think you can see some parallels where forces of the government overreacted in certain situations, whether it鈥檚 on a college campus or in the streets of a city.
鈥淚 know the college students around the country -- especially the African-American students -- are very concerned about excessive force being used in the community. I know also that police forces and prosecutors in government and cities are addressing this issue, so I do think it鈥檚 very timely indeed.鈥�
Tamir Rice was shot and killed by police in 2014 while playing with a realistic-looking toy gun. His family last month with the City of Cleveland.
