SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington state attorney general charged two Tacoma police officers with murder and another with manslaughter in the death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who died after telling them him he couldn’t breathe as he was being restrained. Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed charges of second-degree murder Thursday against Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, and first-degree manslaughter against Timothy Rankine. Witnesses reported seeing Burbank and Collins, who are both white, attack Ellis. The 33-year-old was killed March 3, 2020, just weeks before George Floyd’s death triggered a nationwide reckoning on race and policing. Ellis’ final words — “I can’t breathe, sir!” — were captured by a home security camera.
Officers face charges in restraint death of Black man
