Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed felony charges in Pierce County Superior Court on Thursday against three officers with the Tacoma Police Department.
What We Know:
- Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins, and Timothy Rankine have all been arrested and charged in the death of an unarmed Black man named Manuel Elijah Ellis. Ellis died while being restrained and claiming that he couldn’t breathe. The officers involved have an arraignment scheduled on Friday. The judge has marked their bail for $100,000 each and also restricted travel to any neighboring counties.
- Burbank and Collins were both charged with second-degree murder, while Rankine was charged with first-degree murder. They are not allowed to have contact with witnesses or each other unless their attorneys are present. This incident marks the first time the Washington State Attorney General’s office has charged police offices with unlawful use of deadly force. The Tacoma Police Union has called the incident “a politically motivated witch hunt.”
- The Union also said in a statement that the officers “acted in accordance with the law, their training, and Tacoma Police Department policies.” Ellis was killed on March 3rd, 2020. He was 33 years old and had two children. Prosecutors say that Burbank and Collins claim to have been attacked by Ellis while they were at a red light stop.
- Witnesses give contradicting statements on the case, according to prosecutors. They describe the initial encounter between Ellis and the two officers as peaceful and respectful. But as Ellis began to walk away, witnesses say he was knocked down by Burbank’s side door, and afterward, Burbanks proceeded to get on top of Ellis when he tried to get up. Video footage released of the attack shows the officers slamming Ellis into the ground and striking him repeatedly. Ellis kept repeating, “I can’t breathe,” and according to video evidence, it’s the last words he ever spoke.
The Pierce County medical examiner later ruled Ellis’s death a homicide due to “hypoxia.”
