Photo: Stanford University
One of the three Washington police officers found not guilty in the 2020 killing of 33-year-old Manuel Ellis has filed a claim against the city alleging defamation and racial discrimination.
Former officer Timothy Rankine filed a $47 million claim against the city of Tacoma and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, alleging that he suffered from “politically motivated, false accusations of racial bias policing and criminal misconduct" amid Ellis' death, per King 5 News.
In footage shown during the officers' trial, police can be seen putting an unarmed Ellis in a chokehold, tasing him, and pinning him to the ground. Ellis can be heard in the footage saying to officers "Can't breathe, sir, can't breathe."
Rankine, a 36-year-old Asian American man, testified that he knelt on Ellis' back while he was handcuffed and face down.
According to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's office, Ellis died from oxygen deprivation due to the “constellation of restraint methods." Lawyers for the officers argued that Ellis died from a lethal dose of methamphetamine and an existing heart condition. They also claimed that Ellis kicked the door of a police car during the incident.
Witnesses told the jury that the officers were the aggressors and made an unprovoked effort to subdue Ellis.
In December 2023, Rankine was acquitted of manslaughter and the two other officers involved, Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, were found not guilty of murder and manslaughter. The three officers later received $500,000 in exchange for their resignations.
Rankine alleges city officials made public statements “wrongfully and falsely accusing me of criminal misconduct" in his recently filed claim. According to Rankine, the statements destroyed his reputation and ruined his career.
Rankine's wife, Katherine Chinn, also filed claims accusing Ferguson of inciting "racially motivated hatred towards my husband and his work as a law enforcement officer" and "using politically motivated false statements and criminal prosecution of my husband for conduct that was not true."
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