Tacoma Mayor Demands Arrest of 4 Officers After Man’s Death in Police Custody Is Ruled Homicide

The death of a 33-year-old black man who was heard saying, “I can’t breathe,” while in police custody in Tacoma, Washington, has been ruled a homicide, according to a medical examiner’s report released Wednesday. The mayor of Tacoma has since called for the arrest of all four officers involved.  “The officer who committed this crime should be fired and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards in a Protesters hold their hands up as they march near Wright Park, June 5, 2020, in Tacoma, Wash.Woodards said that the video only confirmed what the medical examiner’s report already showed.  “Tonight, [the family] asked, ‘Why does it always take a video for the public to believe when a black person’s life is taken unjustly?’ As an African American woman, I didn’t need a video to believe,” Woodards said. “As I watched that video, I became even more enraged and angered and disappointed.” These developments come at a time of national outcry and massive protests sparked by the death of George Floyd after a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Ellis’ death has become another talking point in the national conversation about the treatment of African Americans by police.”In the face of long-standing racism and recent national events, we are devastated to have the death of Manuel Ellis become a part of this national conversation,” Woodards said at a news conference Wednesday.  Ellis and Floyd died in police custody under similar circumstances; both were heard saying, “I can’t breathe,” before their deaths.There have been protests this week in Tacoma against police brutality and racial inequality, and for justice for Ellis, Floyd and other African Americans who have been killed by police.Tacoma police have identified the four officers involved in restraining Ellis as Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins, Masyih Ford and Timothy Rankine.Burbank and Collins are white, Ford is black and Rankine is Asian. All four men have been placed on administrative leave, Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell said in a news release. 

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