Manuel Ellis,a black man who was shocked,beaten up and restrained on the sidewalk while he gasped for breath died shortly after his encounter with the Police. The Washington Police Officers involved with this case were cleared of all criminal charges against Manuel Ellis in 2020. According to documents released recently, each officer involved in the case will be given $500,000 to leave the Tacoma Police Department.
The accused,34-Year Old Rankine, 40-Year Old Matthew Collins and 38-Year Old Christopher Burbank were acquitted in December for a trial that lasted for more than two months. While Rankine was accused of manslaughter, Collins and Burbank were charged with manslaughter and second-degree murder. On March 3, 2020, a statement was released saying that none of the officers violated the use of force policy. Although, it was rectified later on that the act did not serve the best interests of the community.
“Because it was policy at the time, it guided by decisions announced today” said Chief Avery Moore. The policy has been replaced since. An attorney representing the victim’s family expressed that it is perverse that the officers are “effectively being rewarded” for his death. He stated that the officers have been rewarded about $1.5 Million in totality despite being on leave since 4 years and said that “The worst TPD officers are also the highest paid TPD officers!”.
The 33-Year Old Victim was walking out of a 7-Eleven Store in Tacoma, about 30-Miles South of Seattle when he went by a Patrol Car. The officers said that Ellis tried to open the door of a passing car. The officers claimed that he became violent when they questioned him about his doing. Allegedly, the victim had “superhuman strength” and he lifted Officer Collins from the ground and threw him.
Despite three witnesses of the scene testified against the Officer’s statement and the surveillance camera footage showed the brutality at the scene, the three officers are being paid a hefty amount to leave their duty. They were not punished for their actions that caused the death of an innocent man. The Officer’s attornies argued that Ellis died from a lethal amount of methamphetamine that was in his system as well as a heart condition, not from the officers’ actions.
The victim’s family settled for $4 Million in 2023. Such gruesome cases of racial discrimination and violence against individuals belonging to certain communities unravel yet the offenders in such cases are given a passage to walk away from their wrongdoings and live a peaceful life. Torturing a person at a scene to the extent that the person dies is unacceptable. The police can enforce their power and regulation in a way less violent manner. The George Floyd Case is one similar case which gathered a lot of attention. There is a lot of similarity between the two cases, one such similarity is the torture the victim had to endure.
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