One of three former Tacoma police officers acquitted of manslaughter last year in the fatal arrest of a Black man four years ago has filed a $47 million lawsuit against city and state officials, claiming his reputation was destroyed after being falsely accused of racism and criminal misconduct.
Timothy Rankine, who is Asian American, was found not guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the March 3, 2020, custody death of Manuel Ellis after testifying that he pressed down on the 33-year-old man’s back as he pleaded to breathe.
During the ordeal, Manny was brutally beaten, shocked with a Taser three times, and restrained on his stomach with his limbs tied behind his back in a hogtie position while officers knelt or sat on him.
Following an autopsy, the Pierce County medical examiner determined that Ellis died as a result of a homicide from oxygen deprivation. A spit mask was also placed over Ellis’ mouth which was also listed as a major contributor to his death.
The trial lasted more than two months and ended last December in the acquittals of the three officers involved, including Rankine’s co-defendants Matthew Collins and Christopher “Shane” Burbank, both of whom are white, while each faced an additional count of second-degree murder.
Meanwhile, Rankine agreed to resign from the department in January in exchange for a $500,000 settlement after being cleared under a previous policy, which Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore criticized, saying the outcome “failed to serve the best interests of the police department or the community.”
The department reached similar agreements with Collins and Burbank, who were the first to stop Ellis and later resigned in exchange for financial settlements.
Additionally, all three officers remained on paid leave throughout the investigation and trial, collectively earning more than $1 million by the time the trial began last September.
Rankine filed tort claims with the city of Tacoma and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, seeking massive damages for himself and his wife, Katherine Chinn, alleging that the case was politically motivated and caused threats against them.
The action names Attorney General Bob Ferguson, his staff and contractors, as well as elected officials in Tacoma and city employees.
The lawsuit accuses the attorney general and his staff of inciting “racially motivated hatred” against Rankine, which sullied his reputation and threatened his livelihood as he’s been unable to find a new job with a different department.
“They allege that he’s pretty much been forced out of position because of the discriminatory acts of leadership and creating a hostile workplace,” said Rankine’s attorney, Joan Mell, according to station KNKX. “That he can’t even do his job safely there.”
During the trial, defense attorneys successfully argued that Ellis died from methamphetamines he took before the fatal encounter and because he suffered from an enlarged heart.
The officers claimed that Ellis attacked them, but during the trial, several witnesses refuted this, testifying that Burbank and Collins were the aggressors. Additionally, three more bystanders said the officers overpowered Ellis during the struggle.
The day before the acquittals, the jury reported being deadlocked on whether to convict Collins and Burbank of negligent manslaughter, according to court records released after the trial.
Mell told KNKX that the former officer feels as if he has been blackballed from working in law enforcement.
In April, Burbank briefly joined the sheriff’s department in neighboring Thurston County, but he resigned after just one day when the community erupted over his hiring.
Attorneys for Collins and Burbank said they are not planning to file a lawsuit like Rankine’s.
Additionally, state officials are investigating whether to permanently revoke the certifications of the officers involved.
Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit filed by the Ellis family in U.S. District Court in September 2021 against the officers and the city of Tacoma is still pending.
Previously, the family accepted a $4 million wrongful death settlement from Pierce County, which initially investigated Ellis’ death.
Previously, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office faced criticism for botching the initial investigation after failing to reveal that one of its own deputies was involved in restraining Ellis, leading to federal scrutiny, as well as the creation of a new independent office dedicated to investigating police misconduct in the county.
On the night of his death, Ellis was unarmed and walking home with doughnuts from a 7-Eleven store.
He had not committed any crime when he was confronted by the three deputies, who held him down and brutalized him as he pleaded, “I can’t breathe.”
Moments earlier, Ellis had passed a red light where Collins and Burbank were stopped in their patrol car.
During the trial, defense lawyers claimed the officers observed Ellis trying to open the door of another car at the intersection and emerged from their unit to confront him about it, saying Ellis turned aggressive immediately, which led to a struggle on the sidewalk.
During testimony, Collins described Ellis as having “superhuman strength,” claiming the man picked him up and threw him during the scuffle.
But witnesses at the scene disputed this account, saying Ellis approached the squad car but did nothing to provoke the officers and that Burbank had flung open the passenger side door of the patrol car, knocking Ellis to the ground.
Witnesses also testified that they yelled at officers to stop beating Ellis.
The incident was captured in part by a nearby doorbell surveillance camera, which showed Ellis with his hands in the air when Burbank tased him in the chest while Collins got behind Ellis and applied a chokehold.
Rankine was among multiple officers who showed up to the scene after Ellis was already handcuffed on the ground, but the officer still put his knee down on the man’s back, leading to Ellis’ desperate pleas to be let up.
“I can’t breathe, sir. I can’t breathe, sir. I can’t breathe,” Washington Assistant Attorney General Kent Liu told jurors in October when describing Ellis’ last words.
But Rankine testified that he was unmoved as Ellis begged him to get off his back as he struggled to breathe.
“The only response at that point that I could think of is, ‘If you can talk to me, you can still breathe,’” Rankine testified.
Ellis’ death coincided with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and received little attention compared to the police killing of George Floyd more than two months later in Minneapolis.
The officers were charged under a relatively new state law aimed at making it easier to prosecute police accused of excessive force.
The Ellis case was the first to test the provision, approved in 2018 and known as Initiative 940. This provision eliminated the unique requirement that prosecutors prove officers acted with actual malice to bring criminal charges.
It also mandated independent investigations following instances where the use of force led to death or severe bodily harm, among other provisions.
An ongoing internal affairs investigation into the fatal arrest could result in a decision on potential disciplinary actions for the officers “up to and including termination.”
