3 Tacoma police officers charged in death of Manuel Ellis who said he couldn't breathe
ABC News
Three police officers have been arrested and charged in the killing of an unarmed Black man who pleaded for breath while being restrained in Washington state last year.
Three police officers have been arrested and charged in the death of an unarmed Black man who said he couldn't breathe while being restrained in Washington state last year. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed felony charges in Pierce County Superior Court on Thursday against three officers with the Tacoma Police Department. Two of the officers, Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, who are both white, were charged with second-degree murder while the third, Timothy Rankine, who is Asian, was charged with first-degree manslaughter. All three were in custody by Thursday evening and were scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning. ABC News has reached out to their attorneys for comment. It's the first time that the Washington State Attorney General's office has criminally charged police officers with unlawful use of deadly force. The Tacoma Police Union defended the three officers, saying "facts were ignored in favor of what appears to be a politically motivated witch hunt."More Related News