Tamir Rice’s family has responded to a Friday filing by the city of Cleveland that argued that the 12-year-old African-American boy was to blame for his own death at the hands of Cleveland police last November. "It’s unbelievable," Walter Madison, an attorney for the Rice family, told the Washington Post.

In a 41-page document filed last week on behalf of Cleveland, the city argued that Rice’s death was "directly and proximately caused" by his own actions. 

"There are a number of things that we in society don’t allow 12-year-olds to do," Madison said. "We don’t allow them to vote, we don’t allow them to drink. In court we don’t try them as adults. They don’t have the capacity to undersatnd the consequences of their actions."

In a Monday press conference Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson apologized for the "insensitivity" embedded in what he said was standard legal language, CNN reported. The city would amend the document, Jackson said.

"What I care about right now is that the family of Tamir Rice and the people of the city of Cleveland understand and realize that we are sorry for what we have done and that we apologize to them," Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson told reporters today, CNN reported. 

Read the court filing at USA Today.