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May 28, 2021 Share
SEATTLE Five weeks after ex-Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd, three Washington state officers have been charged in the death of Manuel Ellis: another Black man who pleaded for breath under an officer’s knee.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson charged officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, who are both white, with second-degree murder Thursday after witnesses reported that they attacked Ellis without provocation.
Timothy Rankine, who is Asian, faces a charge of first-degree manslaughter. He is accused of kneeling on Ellis’ back and shoulder as he died from a lack of oxygen, according to a probable cause statement filed in Pierce County Superior Court.
by Tim Gruver, The Center Square | May 28, 2021 09:00 AM Print this article
Three Tacoma police officers face felony charges ranging from manslaughter to murder from Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson for their alleged killing of Tacoma resident Manuel Ellis.
On March 3, 2020, Ellis died while being detained by two Tacoma Police officers on his way home from church. According to a report by the Washington State Patrol (WSP), Ellis conversed with officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, who were stopped at a red light in their patrol car.
Based on testimony and eyewitnesses at the scene, Burbank knocked Ellis to the ground after swinging open his passenger door. The two officers allegedly struck Ellis multiple times, pinning him to the ground as Collins wrapped an arm around Ellis neck. Video and audio files obtained from eyewitnesses, the report states, show Burbank tasering Ellis for about five seconds as Collins continued to apply pr
Three Washington state cops have been charged in the death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis, an unarmed Black man who repeatedly begged for air while being restrained, punched and tased in a violent arrest last year, authorities said Thursday.
The Washington state attorney general has charged two Tacoma police officers with murder and another 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.