A Pierce County, Washington, jury Thursday acquitted three Tacoma police officers charged in the death of Manuel Ellis, concluding a grueling, historic trial that tested the state’s new police accountability law.
The jury considered second-degree murder charges against officers Matthew Collins, 40, and Christopher “Shane” Burbank, 38, and manslaughter charges against Officer Timothy Rankine, 35, as well as Collins and Burbank.
The acquittal marked the dramatic conclusion of a nearly four-year saga that began March 3, 2020, when Ellis, a 33-year-old black man, died in a south Tacoma intersection after struggling with police and repeatedly telling them he couldn’t breathe, the Seattle Times reports.
Moments after the verdict was read, the officers hugged their lawyers while Ellis’ family quickly left the courthouse. Reflecting the tensions around the trial, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff warned that when the officers left the courthouse, “I would just be careful. A lot of emotions are running high right now.”
