Earlier this week, authorities released video of a Cleveland police officer fatally shooting 12-year-old Tamir Rice. He was killed within two seconds of the cop's arrival at a park where he was seen holding an airsoft gun. On the same day the video was released, Northeast Ohio Media Group published a report titled "Tamir Rice's father has history of domestic violence."

The article, which has so far been shared on Facebook over eight thousand baffling times, reports that Tamir Rice's father has a history of violence against women, including Rice's mother. Although it never explains the significance of this fact, it is preceded by an update:

(Update: A line has been added to this story to give insight into the motivation to investigate the parents' background)

That line—added after the fact, presumably due to questions about the article's relevance—doesn't give the insight promised: "People from across the region have been asking whether Rice grew up around violence." Oh, have they?

Assuming it is true that "people from across the region" have been asking whether a child mistakenly killed by police while holding a toy "grew up around violence" (and there is obviously interest in the answer, seen in the incredible amount of social sharing), it is hard—impossible, really—to justify taking seriously, and acting upon, the clear search for blame in an innocent child.

12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by police in two seconds. His parents' backgrounds, violent or not, had no bearing on his death.

[image via AP]