Manuel Ellis’ family proposes initiative to help fight discrimination across Washington
A proposed initiative bearing Manuel Ellis’ name could help fight discrimination statewide.
His family, attorneys and supporters gathered in Des Moines Wednesday to announce the Manuel Ellis Washington Anti-Discrimination Act, which is supported by three Congress members.
“The intent of the people in enacting this law is to prohibit discrimination against all Washington state residents in public education, public employment, public contracting and public health and safety without any quotas or preferential treatment,” according to the 22-page document.
It goes on to say that people of color and other “historically marginalized communities have experienced government-sponsored discrimination which has created deadly disparities in stark contrast to the general population” in those areas.
They would need 300,000 signatures by Dec. 31 to get the initiative in front of the Legislature.
Ellis was a 33-year-old Black man who died March 3 while being restrained by Tacoma police. His last words, “I can’t breathe, sir, I can’t breathe,” were caught on video and echoed those of George Floyd, a Black man who died May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.
Both deaths prompted widespread protests against police brutality and racial inequality.
The legislation proposed Wednesday has been worked on over the last few months by attorneys, professors and social justice advocates. It touches on the coronavirus pandemic and how people of color have disproportionately contracted the virus in Washington, President Trump’s refusal to denounce white supremacists, The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington declaring racism a public health issue and how police use of force is the leading cause of death for young men of color.
Among the propositions made in the initiative are:
- requiring the state to provide free COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccines when they become available.
- banning chokeholds and neck restraints.
- protecting all residents from law enforcement officers’ discriminatory use of deadly force.
- preserving veterans’ preference to pursue higher education.
- clarifying that affirmative action is voluntary.
- requiring the state Department of Employment Security to cease discriminatory exclusion of Black and Native American communities from monthly unemployment reports.
“This is a state of emergency measure,” said attorney Jesse Wineberry. “We will be seeking the immediate action by the Legislature to address this state of emergency.”
Ellis’ picture is on an Initiative 1300 poster that will be used to gather signatures.
”This measure would allow the state to remedy discrimination and underrepresentation of disadvantaged groups in the public sector, expand prohibitions on discrimination by the state, including by law enforcement, and promote no-cost vaccinations,” according to a mockup.
James Bible, the Ellis family’s attorney, said the signatures were already collected electronically but moving the initiative forward requires hard copies. That has proved harder during the pandemic. Monet Carter-Mixon and Matthew Ellis said Wednesday they struggle daily with the loss of their brother and hope the ballot measure will prevent other families from going through the same trauma.
“We can’t stop what happened to our brother. If this were to happen again, especially to someone who is underrepresented, it would go unnoticed most likely,” Carter-Mixon said.
“We need better systems in place here in Washington so that way police can be held accountable for discriminating against people in these underrepresented communities.”
Ellis’ death was ruled a homicide due to oxygen deprivation from physical restraint, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office. The Washington State Patrol, which took over the investigation in June, said it expects to release results of their investigation within the next few weeks.
The four Tacoma officers involved remain on paid administrative leave. They are Christopher Burbank, 34; Matthew Collins, 37; Masyih Ford, 28; and Timothy Rankine, 31.
Ellis’ family continues to call for them to be fired, a sentiment echoed by Mayor Victoria Woodards months ago after three videos showing portions of Ellis’ encounter with police were made public.
In August, Bible filed a $30 million tort claim against the City of Tacoma as a precursor to a lawsuit.
He said Wednesday Ellis’ family also is considering filing a tort claim against the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
When details of Ellis’ death became public in June, the case generated national attention and thousands protested in Tacoma, carrying signs demanding justice for Ellis. The county’s Emergency Operations Center shifted its focus from the coronavirus pandemic to monitoring demonstrations on June 3, the day The News Tribune published a story about Ellis’ autopsy results.
More than $81,000 was spent to monitor at least 21 local Black Lives Matter protests, including a vigil held for Ellis at the intersection where he died. Law enforcement officers noted dates, times, locations, event organizers and how many people attended.
Ellis’ death also prompted state officials to take action. Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson both criticized the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, which initially investigated Ellis’ death, for not following a new law known as the Law Enforcement Training and Community Safety Act.
Officials said the department failed to immediately identify a conflict of interest after a deputy briefly helped restrain Ellis, did not designate a family liaison and failed to appoint community members to the investigative team as required by Initiative 940. Inslee appointed the State Patrol to start a new investigation into Ellis’ death.
Now, the case is one of 30 deaths or injuries caused by police in Washington this year being looked at to ensure law enforcement agencies complied with the Law Enforcement Training and Community Safety Act, which prevents police from investigating their own uses of deadly force.
Ferguson also delivered a 13-page report to the state Legislature recommending law enforcement agencies be required to report deadly force, and suggesting a statewide database be created that is accessible by the public. There is currently no law that requires police to report deadly force.
Last year, the FBI launched a National Use-of-Force Data Collection Program, but use of the system is voluntary. Only four agencies in Pierce County — Bonney Lake, Fife, Lakewood and Puyallup police — report use-of-force to the FBI.
“The bottom line is that the chokehold has been killing people long enough,” Wineberry said. “And now is the time for the people to kill the chokehold.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 3:39 PM.
