MOSCOW, November 24 (Sputnik) — The US teenager, shot dead by police in Cleveland for wielding a BB imitation of a gun, is an example of the disproportionate use of force by US law enforcers, Russian Foreign Ministry's human rights Ombudsman Konstantin Dolgov stated Monday.
He also wrote that the US authorities have to pay attention to African-Americans becoming victims of police, instead of "engaging in mentoring on human rights around the world."
According to the ombudsman, "racial and ethnic tensions continue to rise in American society… once again, as in Ferguson, the victim of abuse of authority by police officers was black… This problem became systematic in America a long time ago."
On Saturday, African-American Tamir Rice, 12 was shot by a police officer for wielding a gun in public. His weapon, however, turned out to be a compressed air pellet pistol. The teenager died on Sunday in a local medical center.
The case came after African-American Michael Brown, 18 was shot dead by a white police officer, in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9. The killing sparked nationwide rallies and violent clashes between protesters and police officers in Ferguson.
