Murder charges filed against officers in Black man's death
Source: AP
By GENE JOHNSON
SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington state attorney general on Thursday charged two Tacoma police officers with murder and one with manslaughter in the death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who died after repeatedly telling them he couldn’t breathe as he was being restrained.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed charges of second-degree murder against Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, and first-degree manslaughter against Timothy Rankine.
Witnesses reported seeing Burbank and Collins attack Ellis without provocation, according to a probable cause statement filed in Pierce County Superior Court. Rankine is accused of putting pressure on Ellis’ back as he said he couldn’t breathe.
Ellis, 33, died on March 3, 2020 — Tasered, handcuffed and hogtied, with his face covered by a spit hood — just weeks before George Floyd’s death under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer triggered a nationwide reckoning on race and policing.
FILE - A protester holds a sign that reads "Justice for Manny" in this June 5, 2020 file photo in Tacoma, Wash., during a protest against police brutality. On Thursday, May 27, 2021, the Washington state attorney general filed criminal charges against three police officers in the death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who died after telling the Tacoma officers who were restraining him he couldn't breathe. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
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