Police unions criticize ‘theatrics’ in Tacoma mayor’s order to fire officers in Ellis case
Two Tacoma police unions are pushing back against Mayor Victoria Woodards’ demand that four officers involved in the death of Manuel Ellis be fired.
Tensions have risen this week around the case of Ellis, a black man who died March 3 while being restrained by police in South Tacoma.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the 33-year-old’s death a homicide, which legally means he was killed by another person. Fatal police shootings, for instance, are generally determined to be homicides. It is up to prosecutors to decide if police acted lawfully and if the homicide was justifiable or a criminal act was committed.
Ellis died from oxygen deprivation due to physical restraint, with methamphetamine intoxication and heart disease as contributing factors, according to the Medical Examiner.
Those findings prompted his family to call for an independent investigation, separate from the one being conducted by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
On Thursday, a video surfaced showing a portion of Ellis’ encounter with police.
Woodards then addressed the public in a press conference aired live on Tacoma TV and Facebook.
“The officers who committed this crime should be fired and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” she said. “I am demanding tonight that the Pierce County Sheriff review and confirm every action taken by each officer.”
The four officers involved in restraining Ellis have been identified as Christopher Burbank, 34; Matthew Collins, 37; Masyih Ford, 28; and Timothy Rankine, 31.
They were placed on administrative leave after the autopsy findings became public Wednesday.
Within hours of Woodards’ statement, Tacoma police union representatives released a statement accusing the mayor of “theatrics” and claiming the investigation will show the officers “did no wrong.”
“This is not a time to sacrifice dedicated public servants at the altar of public sentiment, especially when that sentiment is almost wholly fueled by the uninformed anger of a theatrical politician,” they wrote.
On Friday, the Tacoma Police Management Association, which represents lieutenants and captains, voiced their concerns.
“Mayor Woodards’ inflammatory language calling the Officers criminals and calling for their prosecution before the incident is reviewed by the Prosecutor’s Office does not suit the office of the Mayor,” representatives said in the statement. “We expect more from our Mayor than an angry theatrical reaction to a short partial video of our Officers attempting to take Mr. Ellis into custody.”
Representatives of both unions said they were appalled by the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes, but said the Ellis and Floyd cases are not the same.
Both unions said they’re eager to see the completed investigation, which is expected to be forwarded to the Prosecutor’s Office by next week.
Prosecutors then will determine whether the officers’ actions warrant criminal charges or if Ellis’ death was a justifiable homicide.
The Management Association asked Woodards to retract her statement until the investigation is over. Efforts by The News Tribune to reach Woodards on Friday morning were unsuccessful.
“Mayor Woodards’ reckless, inflammatory language only escalates anger instead of unifying our city and awaiting a full report of facts. Mayor Woodards’ blatant and concerted disregard for the rule of law serves only one purpose, which is to undermine the constitutional rights of all citizens,” union representatives said in their statement. “The officers involved in this tragedy must be afforded the same rights as all citizens.”
Police Chief Don Ramsdell has not yet commented on the mayor’s demands.
Investigators have said Ellis was trying to open doors of occupied vehicles and attacked two officers who encountered him at the intersection of South 96th Street and Ainsworth Avenue.
His family said they do not believe Ellis would have behaved that way and believe the officers killed Ellis without cause.
In the video, Ellis can be seen on the ground struggling with two officers while a passerby screams for police to stop hitting him.
It is unclear where the other two officers were at the time or what role they played in Ellis’ death.
The Police Department identified the four officers as all having been a part of restraining Ellis at one point during the encounter.
Ellis said, “Can’t breathe,” during the encounter, at which time sheriff’s detectives say the Tacoma officers rolled him on his side.
Police called for medical aid at 11:26 p.m., four minutes after the encounter began.
Within a minute of firefighters arriving on scene, Ellis stopped breathing and lost consciousness.
Paramedics performed CPR for nearly 90 minutes, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 12:06 PM.
