海角破解版

The Cleveland Warriors, an amateur football team in Northeast Ohio made up of police officers, prison guards and first responders, had some unwanted visitors at their practice Saturday.

While a handful of young and middle-aged white men wearing helmets and shorts ran through passing plays at an indoor sports complex in North Royalton, five Black men 鈥� including former players on the team and local activists 鈥� watched and yelled at the players and coaches.

鈥淚 just want you to know practice is over with,鈥� said the protest鈥檚 organizer and former team member Randy Knight. 鈥淏ecause they鈥檙e harboring a murderer.鈥�

Knight and the others came out early on a cold Saturday morning in January to protest the presence of one player 鈥� Timothy Loehmann, the former Cleveland Division of Police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014.

鈥淚鈥檓 in pictures with this guy,鈥� Knight said, during an interview the day before. 鈥淚鈥檓 playing football with this guy. You know how my family would think of me?鈥�

Knight left the team earlier this month. He said he had no idea he鈥檇 been playing with Loehmann. He found out from a clerk at a sporting goods store.

And Knight believes the people running the team intentionally hid Loehmann鈥檚 identity.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not a recognizable face, you know?鈥� Knight said. 鈥淓veryone else is called by his last name. Everyone else 鈥� Knight, Sullivan 鈥� but when it comes to Timothy they called him Tim or Timmy.鈥�

Photo of Timothy Loehmann (second from left) practicing with the Warriors in 2018, downloaded from the team's private Facebook page by Randy Knight.

Team leadership at the practice declined to comment for this story. Follow up calls the day after practice were not returned.

All investigations into Loehmann have ended in similar outcomes. Local prosecutors never charged Loehmann for a crime in the killing of Tamir Rice. The U.S. Department of Justice recently closed its investigation into the shooting without bringing a civil rights case.

Knight said six people were kicked off the team after objecting to Loehmann鈥檚 presence, all Black and under the age of 33.

At Saturday鈥檚 practice, team members called the police and Knight and the activists moved their protest outside, which ended peacefully once all the players left.

Loehmann wasn鈥檛 out on the field practicing that day. Knight claimed his truck was in the parking lot. He was not seen exiting the facility.

A lists Loehmann as an offensive lineman and member of the Cleveland police department.

What bothered Knight and other former players most was that members of the team knew who 鈥淭immy鈥� was but kept his identity hidden.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 no hard feelings toward him, it wasn鈥檛 like no anger or nothing,鈥� former team member Bijon Walker said. Walker has played on the team since 2013 and his long tenure added to the surprise about not being told sooner.

鈥淲e took a lot of team photos with him,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淲hat if one of those pictures were to surface or to be shown somewhere, and then a lot of angry people in the community we live in, and they were to see?鈥�

The Black players approached team president Bill Sofranko about Loehmann鈥檚 presence.

require that players are active duty first responders. Loehmann doesn鈥檛 meet that requirement. The Cleveland Division of Police fired Loehmann for lying on his job application.

According to Knight, Sofranko鈥檚 response was he thought the players knew who Timmy was. Then he claimed Loehmann was leaving the team, but he remained.

Sofranko declined to comment for this story during Saturday鈥檚 practice and didn鈥檛 return calls the day after. Another player who鈥檚 left the team, Patrick Sullivan, raised concerns about Timmy鈥檚 identity back in 2019.

鈥淔irst thing he said, he been through a lot since that happened. This is all he got, football is all he got. He been through a lot and it eats him up at night. I said, 鈥楤ill, what about the family of Tamir Rice? It eats them up every day,鈥� Sullivan said.

Loehmann is still contesting his firing from Cleveland Division of Police. His case is awaiting a hearing in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.