George Floyd verdict shows urgency as Manuel Ellis family, Tacoma wait ... and wait
George Floyd and Manuel Ellis are inextricably tied in the minds of many Tacoma area residents. Though separated by nearly 1,700 miles, the two Black men were joined by their common plea of “I can’t breathe” while dying at the hands of police officers last year.
Their tragic stories commanded public attention at roughly the same time. Floyd’s death under the knee of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin on May 25 went viral immediately; Ellis’ March 3 homicide belatedly came to light in a June 3 News Tribune report, published amid the national uprising over the shocking use of deadly force against Floyd.
So it was inevitable that Tuesday’s triple stroke of accountability for Chauvin — found guilty of two counts of murder and one of manslaughter by a Minneapolis jury — would send a powerful ripple west to Tacoma.
The posthumous connection between these two men remains strong, as a pair of Tacoma city leaders made clear Tuesday.
Mayor Victoria Woodards and City Manager Elizabeth Pauli said “this historic moment alone does not lift the tension and weight” off Tacoma and the rest of the country.
And they’d have been remiss not to point out in their joint statement “the continued local impacts of ongoing investigations — including the one into the death of Manuel Ellis — right here in Tacoma.”
This is where the Floyd and Ellis stories diverge sharply, causing Tacomans to feel understandably dissatisfied while they wait on the slow grind of Washington’s justice system.
Look at it through the eyes of Ellis’ loved ones, and the emotions cut much deeper. Tuesday’s verdict in Minnesota, while a hopeful sign, won’t lay those feelings to rest.
Chauvin was arrested and charged within four days of Floyd’s death, then convicted by a jury less than 11 months later. Meantime, it’s been nearly 14 months since Ellis died around midnight on a dark Tacoma street, and we still don’t even know whether any officers at the scene will face criminal charges.
“For many, the expectation is that what has happened in the Floyd case is an aberration,” said Luther Adams, an associate professor at the University of Washington Tacoma who studies police brutality. He pointed to a long history of charges being dropped or not filed against officers who kill Black people, including Freddie Gray in Baltimore and Breonna Taylor in Louisville.
“I’ve seen a bit of that expectation in the case of Manuel Ellis,” Adams told us, noting the long wait on possible charges and other public information, even the late date of finding out a fifth officer was at the scene. “The misinformation and disinformation make it hard for some people to believe the idea that justice is going to come through.”
To be clear, there are rational explanations for the delay. Unlike in Minneapolis, Washington investigators don’t have the benefit of a crime committed in broad daylight, an identifiable villain or multiple bystanders bearing witness to 9 minutes and 29 seconds of police violence.
The state Attorney General’s office has much to digest in a 2,169-page report that State Patrol investigators turned over to the AG in November.
But the Ellis family and our community can’t forget the lapses that wasted precious time. That includes a Pierce County Medical Examiner’s report that ruled Ellis’ death as a homicide but sat on a desk for three weeks, followed by a clumsy Sheriff’s Department investigation that caused the state to get involved in the first place.
A drawn-out charging decision by the AG’s office is taking a toll, as well. In February, the office said it expected to complete its case review by early April, then later said another four to six weeks were needed, keeping Tacoma on pins and needles likely until May.
Rather than issuing statements, Attorney General Bob Ferguson would do well to personally get out in front of any future announcements — or, God forbid, delays. Taking a more visible role, like Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison did from the outset of the Floyd case, would help send a message about priorities.
Rational explanations about due process are important and should be presented. But raw emotions and cries for racial justice are important, too, and can’t be bottled up indefinitely.
The tragedy of Manuel Ellis, so slow to come to light, deserves the same sense of urgency that George Floyd received.
This story was originally published April 21, 2021 at 2:20 PM.