Attorney General FERGUSON Charges three officers Tacoma PD in the 2020 killing of Manuel Ellis

Change is coming...Mr Ellis’ family are owed justice. Exactly how many times does an unarmed African American man/woman need to say “I can’t breathe” before you remove your knee?

Inching closer to Justice for Manuel Ellis…

In 2020 the killing of Manuel Ellis “shocked the conscious of normal men/women” - fair warning the videos that emerged months after Mr Ellis’ death are difficult and disturbing to watch. In some respects Gov Inslee’s declarative decision to have the Washington Attorney General’s Office investigate the events that lead up to Mr Ellis death was in part the “arch of justice” slowly bending in the right direction.

‘‘I can’t breath …sir…I can’t breath”

New video was released Tuesday, June 9, 2020 showing the March 3 fatal encounter between Tacoma police and Manuel Ellis, who repeatedly called out, “I can’t breathe, sir.” further down in the article I have embedded the longer video along with the relaxant portion of the newly released Statement of Probable Cause

Attorney General Ferguson Announcement:

Mr. Ellis was killed on March 3, 2020, in Tacoma Washington - while he was being detained by Tacoma Police. The office investigation originally handled by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. Months later, it was revealed that Pierce County Sheriff’s personnel were involved in Mr. Ellis’s detention.
husly textbook “inherent conflict of interest” which the Sherrif’s office tried to bury - once that malfeasance surfaced Gov. Jay Inslee then directed the Washington State Patrol to investigate Manuel Ellis’ death and referred the charging decision to the Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office…

at the direction of Gov Inslee - Attorney General Ferguson then assembled a multidisciplinary team which assisted in reviewing the investigation and making the charging decision. The review team included leaders in the office consisted of;

• assistant attorneys general from the Robert Keppel Criminal Justice and Wing Luke Civil Rights Divisions

• a special assistant attorney general,

• and two retired judges, Judge Frank Cuthbertson and Judge Ronald Cox.

On May 27, 2021 the Washington Attorney General formally announced the charges of;

Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins charged with Second-Degree Murder,

Timothy Rankine was charged with First-Degree Manslaughter.

The Attorney General’s Office conducted a more exhaustive investigation. AG Ferguson’s Office interviewed “new witnesses and identified and examined additional forensic evidence”;

The office retained an expert on police use of force. The office also retained video and audio experts to synchronize the different audio and visual evidence captured by multiple sources, and produce a comprehensive transcript of the incident. All of this work was critical for the review team and the use of force expert. Consequently, a charging decision could not be made until its completion in May 2021.

If you can I would strongly suggest that you read the statement of probable cause  as the statement now includes evidence collected by the State Patrol and the Attorney General’s Office - which includes a more accurate timeline of the events leading up to Manuel Ellis’ death on March 3, 2020. The statement of probable cause now includes new witnesses, their statements, a forensic (data video and audio) reconstruction of the timeline that included the aforementioned new information. This is extraordinary both in terms of substance and materiality because it completely eviscerated the horrid initial investigation…

CIVILIAN WITNESSES see Officer BURBANK and Officer COLLINS attack ELLIS

I will keep saying this, to those who have/had to bear witness to these officers killing unarmed and “complaint” black and brown Americans - your documenting via your smartphone is extraordinarily important. Because of your bravery of both recording these encounters but also your willingness to give aid is heartening. Had it not been for the various witnesses and their smartphone video —I’m not sure Attorney General Ferguson’s Office would have been able to reconstruct the critical and pivotal seconds leading up to and after Mr Ellis’ murder.

Around 11:21 PM, as Ellis walked along the sidewalk towards them, COLLINS and BURBANK were sitting at a red light at 96th and Ainsworth, facing west.  Immediately behind BURBANK and COLLINS at the red light was a woman, S.M., in her car.  In a car behind S.M. was her former boyfriend, K.L., with their two daughters sitting in the back seat.  S.M. and K.L. were on their way to drop off their daughters with S.M.’s sister.

On the south side of the intersection, to the police officers’ left, was a pizza delivery driver named S.C., in route back to the restaurant after a delivery.

None of the three civilian witnesses at the intersection knew Ellis, BURBANK, or COLLINS before that night. And neither S.M. nor K.L knew S.C.

You used your Patrol Car door as a weapon?

The officers did not let Ellis walk away. Instead, as both S.M. and K.L. described witnessing, BURBANK abruptly swung open the passenger door of the car, striking Ellis from behind and knocking him to his knees. S.C. similarly described seeing the passenger door to the police car open suddenly and then seeing Ellis fall to the ground.

S.M. and K.L. then saw BURBANK emerge from the passenger side of the car and get on top of Ellis as Ellis tried to get back up. All three of the witnesses described then seeing the driver of the police car, COLLINS, open his door and run around the front of the car towards Ellis.

….S.M. and S.C. both immediately took out their cell phones and began to record what they were seeing….

Good lord have mercy - the Washington Attorneys General’s Office completely reconstructed the timeline, adding other witnesses videos, and used previous video and audio that helped reconstruct the timeline down to the second…

Mr. Fredericks produced a chronological alignment of all the digital multimedia evidence, including the following:

• Cell phone video (and any accompanying audio) from S.M., S.C., and a woman named A.W., who lived in a house about 112 feet from Ellis and the Officers.

• A Vivint "Doorbell" camera on the house A.W. lived in, which captured both video and audio.

• Audio recordings from South Sound 911 "TPD S PRIM" dispatch radio traffic. Taser activation data.

This alignment was produced by identifying visual activity that is consistent among two or more camera views, as well as by matching dispatch and audio records with the timing on the video recordings. This was then used to synchronize the audio and video recordings into a single audio/video presentation with an on-screen time-of-day stamp, accurate to the millisecond for reference purposes.

Fair warning the next few pages of the the statement of probable cause is extraordinarily difficult to read. But it’s a more comprehensive timeline and chain of events that directly caused the death of Mr Ellis…Officer Collins applies a neck restraint on Ellis as Officer Burbank aims his taser. again this is a difficult finding of facts to read but I think it’s important that you have the video to match up with the newly released statement of probable cause
♦️viewer discretion advised♦️

Burbank fires taser as Collins continues to apply LVNR….

…at 56 seconds after 11:21 PM—the pizza delivery driver (S.C.)'s phone begins recording. That video begins by showing COLLINS, now behind Ellis, wrapping his arm around the front of Ellis's neck, as BURBANK takes aim with his taser gun. COLLINS then locks his hands together while squeezing the arm around Ellis's neck, applying what is called a "lateral vascular neck restraint," or "LVNR."

Again thank god other witnesses had the presence of mind to use their smartphones record these officers uses excessive force, which directly caused the death of Mr Ellis. I am sure that many of you might be thinking to yourself “my god how many unarmed black or brown men have been killed but there wasn’t video recording it?” Because this kind of unjustified use of deadly force is not okay. Again don’t conflate that with me being anti-law enforcement, I’m not but I am pro civil rights.

The parallels to the murder of George Floyd and Manuel Ellis are eerily similar snd truly unnerving. Everyday citizens saw what these three officers were doing and used their smartphones to document it all - the officer’s excessive use of "lateral vascular neck restraint,"

"Hey, ya'll in the wrong right now," K.L. can be heard yelling on S.M.'s cell phone video during the attack. K.L. had jumped out of his car by this point, leaving his kids sitting in…the backseat, because he was so distressed by what he was witnessing. S.M. can then be heard reprimanding K.L. for getting out of his car and shouting at the officers while their kids are in his car. S.M. later explained that she was scared and did not want K.L. to get involved given what she was witnessing.

Specifically, she feared that K.L., a Black male, would himself be assaulted by the officers. K.L. can be heard on audio responding to S.M., saying, "I don't care, I just saw him punch him in the face."

As the five-second taser cycle ends, S.C.'s video shows Ellis motionless, with COLLINS's arms still applying an LVNR hold around Ellis's neck. COLLINS then removes his arms from Ellis's neck, and Ellis's head falls limply towards the pavement. COLLINS can then be seen pushing down with his arm onto the back of Ellis's head or neck, pressing Ellis's face into the pavement.

That last sentence in the statement of probable cause is horrific for a variety of reasons, at least 5 of the witnesses (3 are minors but 2 adults) are African American and the woman was terrified that witness K.L. a black male would likely be shoot or seriously injured by the police for simply trying to intervene to save Mr Manuel Ellis’ life.

Three witnesses returned to the scene..

It is hard to judge another person and what actions they would take, as they witness a man being killed by three police officers. But one thing that can give you decent indication of just how bad the situation was between Mr Ellis and (hopefully formers) Officer Christopher Burbank, Officer Matthew Collins and Timothy Rankine - the three witnesses returned to the scene - for the record the female witness knew the victim Manuel “manny” Ellis

…BURBANK and COLLINS, as the officers continue applying pressure to Ellis's body…As S.C. drives away, BURBANK can be seen in the final moments of S.C.'s video firing another five-second round of electricity through the taser probes sticking into Ellis's chest…

She tried to return to the scene, "because I was scared for Manny." She later explained, "I was just like, wanted to go figure out what, what happened to him like or why that happened."

“Can't breathe sir. Can't breathe!" sir," "Breathe sir”

Ellis began telling the officers that he could not breathe. At 25 seconds after 11:23 PM, the Vivint doorbell security camera on a house across the street captures the sound of Ellis saying clearly "Can't breathe sir. Can't breathe!" That house is approximately 112 feet away from the officers and Ellis. Less than 15 seconds later, Ellis can again be heard pleading with the officers and referring to them as "sir," saying either "Breathe sir?" or "Please sir?"

…“Shut the fuck up, man," one of the officers says back to Ellis…

That house is approximately 112 feet away from the officers and Ellis. Less than 15 seconds later, Ellis can again be heard pleading with the officers and referring to them …

Less than a minute later—about 19 seconds after 11:24 PM—backup begins to arrive. Driving the car that arrives first to the scene is Officer TIMOTHY RANKINE.

♦️Viewer Discretion Advised♦️

…this is the tiny portion of cell phone footage. This was obtained by the Washington Attorney General’s Office. Which really did a “do over” after the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office completely fubar’d the initial investigation. interviewed and subsequently obtained the video. Originally the Police Chief ( in my opinion in a completely belligerent and how dare you question mahhhaaauTHOOrrraatteeee— literally “there were no choke holds used on Mr Emanuel Ellis’
Important that you watch the video closely…

Because this snippet puts pages 10 & 11 into much better context because the content is not mutually exclusive…

Does size Matter… or proper training..

According to Washington State Dept of Licensing data, RANKINE weighs an approximately 200lbs. His height us six foot & two inches tall. In 2018, Officer Rankine joined the Tacoma Police Department. Prior to that Rankine has previously served the US Army. In =Rankine worked as a “contractor” providing security to/for the State Department . Washington's Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) by the Criminal Justice Training Commission.

Rankine subsequently took and completed the training —which explicitly covered “excited delirium” - it is classified as a medical emergency. The course materials and that when a subject is experiencing excited delirium, officers should;

• 1) take care to ensure that the subject can breathe;

• 2) avoid inhibiting breathing in any way; and

• 3) not put pressure on the subject's thorax or leave the subject face down.

So Timothy Rankine basically sat on Mr Ellis while he was in the prone position and handcuff - while officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins placed their knees and significant amount of their body weight on Mr Ellis.

RANKINE then put "all [his] weight to the middle of [Ellis's] body, securing [his] right knee over the top of his spine just below the base of his neck" with his "left knee in the middle of his spine, on his lower back." RANKINE then kicked out his own ankles so that he was "almost in like a seated position" atop Ellis's back. Ellis again says “he cannot breathe”

I’m not a doctor or nurse but “thrashing around” -in layman’s (aka non-medical speak) sound like Mr Ellis’ body was moving involuntarily because of a lack of oxygen and the fact “Officer” RANKINE applied even more pressure on Mr Ellis’ torso and the bottom of his neck… but the fact Rankine said this to Mr Ellis (my guesstimate is Ellis stated “I can’t breathe” at least 16 times in the <3 minutes

He got quite because Officer Rankine KILLED him

RANKINE recalled hearing Ellis "making really strange animal grunting noises," and then hearing him say in a "very calm normal voice" that he could not breathe. RANKINE responded that "if you're talking to me, you can breathe just fine." RANKINE said that Ellis then "got quiet." RANKINE moved his right knee up towards Ellis's right shoulder, which caused Ellis to "violently thrash[]" his body, so RANKINE moved his knee back to the middle of Ellis's spine.

RANKINE responded that "if you're talking to me, you can breathe just fine." RANKINE said that Ellis then "got quiet." RANKINE moved his right knee up towards Ellis's right shoulder, which caused Ellis to "violently thrash[]" his body, so RANKINE moved his knee back to the middle of Ellis's spine.

Ellis’ last known words Can’t breathe…Can’t breathe…

…at 21 seconds after 11:25 PM, another officer on the scene, Sgt. Michael Lim, took to his radio to tell responding officers that they could slow their approach to the scene. As Sgt. Lim did so, Ellis can be heard in the background, speaking his last known words, the same desperate plea he had been repeating throughout the attack: "Can't breathe." "Can't breathe."

RANKINE noticed at this time that Ellis's body temperature was hot, that he was sweating profusely, and that "he was bleeding from his face." Lt. Messineo said he recognized Ellis's condition as "excited delirium," based on his temperature and agonal breathing, and he alerted the officers at the scene that he thought Ellis was experiencing excited delirium

Reminder in the Derek Chauvin murder case - world-renowned pulmonologist Dr Martin Tobin’s expert testimony explained the

14 months, 465 days, 11,160 hours, 669,600 minutes

That’s how long Manuel “manny” Ellis’ family had to wait …

”But there’s a reality in this… The reality is you won’t want to be first in this kind of way. You might want to be first in your class at school. You might want to be first in a track race or a football game, but you don’t want to be in a place where for over 14 months you mourn the loss of your loved one and suffer the demonization of your family, of the people that stand with you, and most importantly, of the person … the police killed….There are no winners at this moment,” - Attorney James Bible representing Manuel Ellis’ family.

Again relevant Documents; AG Ferguson’s May 27, 2021 Press Release —Tacoma Police Department officers; Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins with Second-Degree Murder. Timothy Rankine with First-Degree Manslaughter and lastly the statement of probable cause.

Still think it’s “disrespectful” to take a knee?

I’m taking time off to enjoy the long holiday weekend. And I hope you do the same. Happy Memorial Day Weekend…

-Filey

ps Ignore the trolls. Starve them of the attention they desire. There’s actually far more dignity in silence - versus debasing yourself to their level. I’m currently working on my 4-story for my walk-in closet in the head of a few people that I’m apparently living there rent free… ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯…