The gazebo that was the backdrop for the fatal police shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 is being disassembled Wednesday and taken to a museum in Chicago, NBC News reports.
Subodh Chandra, an attorney for Tamir Rice's family told Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC last week that the gazebo has been "a place in which, my understanding is, that you know there’ve been people who haven’t been healthy for the community congregating underneath it. And then, of course, it’s a symbol of pain for this family and for the community."
NBC further reported that Samir Rice, Tamir's mother, had previously voiced a desire to have the gazebo demolished, but later saw it as a significant symbol in the community as it became a memorial for Tamir.
Crews began disassembling the gazebo in Cudell Park on Wednesday, and will be shipped to the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, which is a "hybrid gallery, media archive, library and community center" as well as home to the Rebuild Foundation's collections and archives.
WKYC reported that the gazebo was filled with stuffed animals and flowers placed there in memory of Tamir at the time it was taken apart.
Tamir Rice was holding a toy gun when police shot and killed him in 2014, sparking national outcry, including protests and marches from the Black Lives Matter movement around the country. The police officer who shot and killed Tamir was not indicted when his case faced a grand jury in 2015.
