Three police officers have been charged in the death of a Washington state man who reportedly ignored his complaints that he couldn’t breathe.
Tacoma police officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins on Thursday were charged with second-degree murder, while Officer Timothy Rankine was charged with first-degree manslaughter, according to Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
The charges stem from a March 2020 incident in which 33-year-old Manuel Ellis was Tased, hogtied and fitted with a spit hood in what witnesses described as an unprovoked attack by the officers. They also reported seeing Rankine apply pressure to Ellis’ back after he complained that he couldn’t breathe. “Ellis was not fighting back,” reads a probable cause statement. “All three civilian witnesses at the intersection state that they never saw Ellis strike at the officers.”
Would it have taken more than year to file charges if the suspects weren’t police officers?