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Protesters marched through the streets of Downtown Cleveland, a city in the state of Ohio, Tuesday demanding the overhaul of the city's criminal justice system, which they said had so far failed to mete out punishment for white officers who used excessive and unnecessary force against the blacks.
"Police are supposed to protect us, but they are killing us for no justified reason, and the law allows them to do so without any punishment," a protester who did not want to reveal his name told Xinhua.
"We feel helpless," he said.
"The Justice system is not for the community," said a female protester who called herself Ashley. "It's for the cops, so that they could use that to hurt us as they want."
As protests against police brutal killing set the city of Cleveland on edge for days, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday its plan to rein in what it called a pattern of unconstitutional policing and abuse in the city's police department.
According to a DOJ statement issued Tuesday, Cleveland Police Department is required to offer improved training and guidance on how officers may use force, as well as training on bias-free policing.
A DOJ investigation report into Cleveland policing practice in 2014 found that a pattern of abusive policing had long been existing and constitutional rights of the local residents, mostly the blacks, had been violated.
The overhaul requirement for Cleveland Police Department came three days after a judge on Saturday found Cleveland white officer Michael Brelo not guilty of all charges in his role in the notorious case of shooting to death of two unarmed motorists by 13 police officers in 2012.
Up to 137 shots were fired at Timothy Russell, 43, and Malissa Williams, 30.
Before the shooting spree at the unarmed couple, 62 patrol cars chased the couple's vehicle for 22 miles. The car chase began after the policemen mistook backfire of the couple's vehicle for gunfire.
Brelo was the only officer who was criminally charged for his behavior of standing on top of the hood of the couple's vehicle and shooting down through the windshield into the couple after the couple was deemed later by prosecutors as "no longer posing any threat".
Brelo's acquittal was met with severe criticism not only from the public but also politicians.
"Today we have been told - yet again - our lives have no value, " said Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge in a statement. Enditem
