Manuel Ellis - 601
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from Wondery. How you doing tonight, Aaron?

Aaron's good. How's Justin? I'm okay. That surprise you? Do we have any announcements? If you're listening to this, you're going to find yourself at some point saying, I don't know what I'm going to watch next. I don't know what I'm going to listen to next. Listen to Marooned. Jack Luna and I are really enjoying telling these stories. And I feel like if you just give it a shot, I think you're going to love it too. So look for Marooned on your favorite podcast app, whether that's Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or CastBox.

All right, Aaron. Tonight's case is one that we don't shy away from. I will say this. I do have issues when a suspect in a crime says they're doing one thing, but we have video footage of them doing something else. And it always calls their credibility into question. And...

Sometimes suspects lie intentionally. Sometimes they misremember things. But the amount of times that things are misremembered in this case definitely makes me question their credibility. It's an easy solution to a problem that doesn't seem to ever get resolved. But what are we talking about tonight, Aaron? Tonight, we're talking about the March 3rd, 2020 death of Manuel Ellis in Tacoma, Washington.

And this is a man who died essentially because he was being detained by officers.

Now, Manuel Ellis was known as Manny. He was born August 28th, 1986 in Tacoma, Washington to Marsha Carter Patterson. He grew up in Tacoma with an older brother and younger sister, Monet. Manny started playing the drums when he was three years old and also became skilled in piano and keyboard. He enjoyed jazz music, soul, hip hop. His sister said he could pick up an instrument and play it.

Manny attended Wilson High School in Tacoma, and it was about a half an hour south of Seattle, Washington, which is the third largest city in Washington state.

Yeah, I feel like when you hear someone can just pick up an instrument and play it, it immediately brings to mind Prince for some reason. Or my friend Will, who could pick up the guitar and play it after one month. He sounded like he was playing for five years. So just people that are talented like that. Now, in Manny's adult life, he struggled with mental health problems and would use drugs to feel better about that, as most people do.

He did use meth, and his family knew about this, but he was fairly functional. He stayed involved with his family. He helped his sister raise her five sons while having a son around 2009 and a daughter around 2018. So he was a father of two.

Manny enjoyed spending Sundays watching Seahawks games with his nephews. He was known as a fun-loving and nurturing person with a good sense of humor. He enjoyed candy, especially Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which is my favorite. Manny found solace in church and in his Christian beliefs. And if you have Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, those need to be in the fridge before you enjoy them, at least in my opinion.

Where do you stand on the peanut butter cups, Justin? I'll take them anyway, melted or frozen. On September 21st, 2019, Manny was high on meth and pot when he attempted to rob a fast food restaurant in Tacoma. He ended up punching several employees, after which he ran outside, stripped off his clothing, and ran down the street naked. When sheriff's deputies tried to arrest him, Manny refused to stay on the ground, and one of the deputies used a taser on him.

Manny was charged with second-degree robbery. Later, he said he didn't remember the robbery due to the drugs in his system most likely.

After his arrest, Manny was released on bail to await trial. Now, Manny had been arrested in 2015, though there's not much information on that arrest. So while he's awaiting trial, Manny went to live in a clean and sober house called God's Hand Up. It was run by a couple, Cedric Armstrong and Kimberly Mays. This was a house that was their house. They lived there and they invited people to live there to live a clean and sober life.

And while he was there, Manny didn't pay rent, but he did help out with odd jobs. He told friends and family he wanted to get his life together. And Cedric and Kimberly, they reported that Manny was doing great.

and was living within the structure of their home as he was asked to, and that he was embracing mental health care for his schizophrenia. Now, Manny was known to be an upbeat man, and people said he was a good influence on the other people in the house. So at this point, they're reporting Manny's proud of his sobriety. He's embracing sobriety. And as we know,

When you have a drug addiction, that never really leaves. It's something you have to manage every single day of your life. So while someone is sober, that's just part of their journey. But at this point, people are really happy about this. Manny's caring about his future and about other people. And also while he's there, he started attending Last Days Ministries, which is a church in

with both Cedric and Kimberly. He also volunteered as a drummer in the worship band. So he was at the church multiple nights a week, and he started labeling himself a punk for Jesus.

And that's, I think, the key in recovery is to give yourself hobbies, to give yourself distractions, give yourself something else to focus on besides the drug use. But when you have mental health issues, it's hard to stay focused. You're always struggling with those things. So it's a struggle there with trying to find purpose while dealing with your mental health issues.

On the evening of Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020, Manny went to that church to practice with the worship band. He was there until about 9.30 when he returned home with Cedric. He was so excited about that night that he wanted to share it with others, so he started calling people. He told a friend he was proud of how he played the drums that night. He also tried to call Monet, his sister, but she was already asleep, and so the call went to voicemail.

Around 10.15 p.m., Manny video called his mom, and the two talked for about a half an hour. He said, I'm just coming from church, Mom, feeling real good. I'm ready to give my life to Christ. I want to live it right. I want to raise my kids. I want to be around in their lives. I want to do the right thing. And before he hung up, he told her he loved her.

Now, when they got home, Manny, Cedric, and Kimberly hung out for a while. Manny ate a burger before going downstairs to play some video games with his roommate. Around 11 PM, Manny left the house to walk to a nearby convenience store. He did this often because he'd be restless, and this is something from schizophrenia medications and other things will keep you up. So he walked over to a

7-Eleven. He arrived at the 7-Eleven on South Steel Street, and the clerk remembered him as a nice kid who greeted her while he walked in and wished her a good night as he left. He bought a box of raspberry-filled powdered donuts and some water.

Now it's around 11.21 p.m. Manny was about three blocks from the 7-Eleven when he saw a police cruiser stop at a red light at 96th Street South and Ainsworth Avenue South.

Inside the car were officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins with the Tacoma Police Department. They were on patrol together. According to the officers, they saw Manny trying to get into an occupied car going slowly through the intersection. The car sped away quickly and was never identified.

They said Manny then turned towards their vehicle and Collins called to him and asked why he was in the road. Manny then jogged over to the SUV. They say he was sweating profusely despite the temperature being only 41 degrees out, which I sweat all the time. It doesn't matter if it's 41 degrees, but that's just me.

Manny said he was having trouble and needed help. So Collins told him to wait on the sidewalk and they would help him. However, they claim that Manny approached the front passenger side of the car and started punching the window.

as Officer Burbank closed it. He tried to go for the door handle, but Burbank locked it. Collins got out on the driver's side and Burbank said he saw Manny get into a fighting stance with clenched fists and he was facing his partner, Officer Collins. He decided to open his car door to distract Manny, causing it to hit Manny and knock him to his knees. These three men are now kind of wrestling in the street.

They claim that Manny picked Collins up by his vest and threw him to the ground using superhuman strength. He's just strong. He continued to punch and kick at the pair, forcing them to arrest him. They tried to get handcuffs on him, but he was too strong. Collins tried to put Manny in a neck restraint, but both he and Burbank later said that they never got him in one. Burbank tased Manny at least twice to slow him down.

And we'll get to it, but there is video of this struggle. The officers then radioed for backup. After another taser shock, they were able to restrain Manny on his stomach. A few minutes later, officers Mycia Ford and Timothy Rankin arrived as backup, and Rankin took over restraining Manny.

Now, the accounts differ about whether or not Manny told the officers he couldn't breathe. Burbank and Collins claimed Manny never said he couldn't breathe and only made animalistic noises. Ford and Rankin said they heard Manny say he couldn't breathe, but they didn't believe he was serious. One of the subsequent officers to respond to the scene called for medical to take a look at Manny.

One of them takes him seriously and calls medical. At 11.34 p.m., the first paramedic to reach Manny said he was on his side. He was hogtied with a spit hood over his head. Immediately, he noticed Manny had deteriorating respiratory drive, a weak and slow pulse. He was not breathing well.

It appeared to the paramedic that Manny was not breathing in a way that sustained life and was struggling, which is often what people are doing when they're on their last breaths right before they're about to die.

Manny's pupils were fixed and dilated, which is an indicator of brain death. The paramedic immediately began trying to save Manny's life by starting an IV and CPR. Despite their efforts, 33-year-old Manny was declared dead at the scene. His donuts and water were laying on the pavement nearby.

Yeah, this agonal breathing is something, if you read about it, it's a concerning situation. And obviously, an officer might not know about this, but medical personnel would. So within 20 minutes of contact with police, Manny is declared dead.

So in Washington state, when a person dies in police custody, an independent investigation is required. In Pierce County, where Tacoma is, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office usually conducts those investigations. That night, Burbank, Collins, Ford, and Rankin went to the sheriff's station to have their injuries recorded. Collins had scrapes on his elbows and knees and later said his right knee swelled up.

Burbank reported a minor abrasion to one knee. Ford and Rankin were not injured at all. Following standard procedure, Burbank, Collins, Ford, and Rankin were placed on administrative leave pending the investigation. After two weeks, all four returned to work after, you know, as often happens, they found no policy violations. It's very much like having someone investigate themselves. And would you expect them to find any policy violations, Justin?

No wrongdoing. It doesn't make sense to me, but that's the system.

So Manny's body is transported to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office. Dr. Thomas Clark performed the autopsy. Manny had bloody scrapes on both cheeks, gouges in both knees, cuts to one wrist, and bloodied knuckles. The spit hood he was wearing was coated with blood and mucus inside of it. And Dr. Clark ruled that Manny died from hypoxia due to physical restraint.

They had contributing factors of an enlarged heart and methamphetamine intoxication. He ruled the manner of death as homicide, though in this case, it only means that someone else caused the death, not that they were criminally responsible for his death.

That's an important part right there, though. I mean, if you rule the manner of death, it's homicide. What that means is it could be used in court, but not necessarily because the people who might be responsible for his death are police officers. So that's where there's kind of a problem here. If this was some other person, not a police officer that was there when he died, then, you know, this might be carried on to a criminal case. But we'll see.

And I think there is a distinction to be made of manslaughter as opposed to homicide. So maybe it's, oh, well, this is homicide, meaning somebody else caused it, but they might not be criminally responsible. But at the same time, these police officers were not fearing for their lives and using deadly force. They were simply trying to restrain Manny. And that's a difference. Because if they were justified in shooting him, if they were justified in

and killing somebody, then they might not be held criminally responsible. But they weren't using deadly force. They were simply trying to restrain him and he died, which that's a whole other argument that we're going to get into. Manny was buried at Mountain View Memorial Cemetery in Lakewood, Washington. It's just south of Tacoma. His gravestone has a picture of him and reads, many are called, but few are chosen. This is a quote from the Bible.

After Manny's death, Cedric found a sheet of paper in his room, most likely from the night Manny died. It had three crosses drawn on it and a three-point to-do list. The first item was for Manny to call his son, who was 11 at the time. The second was to call the King County Courts. And the last said, stay sober, which is obviously stay sober. But it's clear, Justin, that he was struggling to stay sober.

He obviously had methamphetamine in his system the night of this event. So you can imagine this sounds somewhat similar to another case, the one of George Floyd. I mean, there was a slew of administration problems unrelated to the case, and Dr. Clark finished the autopsy report in late May of 2020. So there wasn't really much media coverage of Manny's death, just a few articles.

But as the protests of June 2020 were ramping up, the media requested through FOIA a copy of the medical examiner's report. This is when the public learned of a case that was very similar to that of George Floyd, who had died in that summer of 2020. They found out about Manny Ellis. He was a black man who died as a result of a police encounter on May 25th, 2020.

So Manny's death became headline news, and a lot of the people in the Pacific Northwest were riled up about it. On June 3rd, 2020, Manny's family and others held a vigil for him. The four officers were once again placed on administrative leave, no doubt to the public pressure, and they remained on paid leave for almost four years.

Now we have this renewed media coverage, and we have witnesses to Manny's interaction with the police who started coming forward to dispute the police's narrative of the night and the happenings. Because Tacoma Washington Police Department doesn't have body cams, and they didn't have their dash cam going. So all we have is what they're saying happened, but...

Manny's family is saying, hey, he was in a good mood and just walking to 7-Eleven to buy some stuff. And now all of a sudden he's attacking police officers. This doesn't add up.

Well, the first witness that comes forward is Sarah McDowell, who was driving a car behind the officer's patrol car. And I've seen video footage of this. She said she didn't see Manny being aggressive with police or resist their detainment. To back this up, she had two cell phone videos she took of the interaction that showed Manny being restrained while being punched and tased. He did not show signs of aggression, according to Sarah.

Sarah drove away from the intersection before backup arrived and they restrained him.

When she returned later, it was because she said, I was scared for Manny. The street was blocked. Then she went home and was sick to her stomach. It wasn't until June that she realized Manny was the man that she saw that night. She's screaming at the cops in this video, stop it, you're hurting him. She's telling them that they need to stop what they're doing because it's obvious to her that Manny's taking a severe beating when he's not really fighting back.

In September 2020, Samuel Cowden also came forward. He was in his car at the time of the situation with Manuel Ellis was going down, and he agreed with Sarah's story, her account. And he said, I definitely did not see him attack anybody, go after anybody, or assault anyone. Samuel's account was also backed up with cell phone video, which showed Manny telling the officers he couldn't breathe and them disregarding it.

Samuel was unaware the man he saw was Manny. He said, I couldn't believe it's the same guy. Turns out it was. So Manny's family, they said the police's narrative was completely out of character for Manny. Monet said, my brother was a good man, a loving person. He wouldn't hurt anyone. My mom raised us to know right from wrong, and he abided by that.

In September 2020, a mural of him was completed on a building near his church in downtown Tacoma with the words, Justice for Manny. Now, I do want to say here, Justin, we do need that cell phone video because it doesn't matter how many people say Manuel Ellis was a good man. We know from his past that he has attacked people. And then later he would say, well, I was on drugs. I don't remember. And we know that there are people that are great people until they're not sober. That's possible here.

I might be jumping a little bit ahead here, but initially these police officers would say they never tased him. Initially, these police officers would say they never used a chokehold on him. But in this cell phone footage, you'll see them using the taser and briefly one of the officers will grab Manny around the neck and pull him back.

Now, whether or not that's a chokehold is up for debate because I think that was the officer just trying to get control of Manny and happened to grab him around the neck. But when you hear them say, we didn't tase him and it's literally on video, well, that's an inconsistency. Right.

And that is calling in the credibility of these police officers and what they're reporting. And if they just had one body cam or one dash cam rolling, we would know the truth of how this incident started. We're getting after the incident has started, after it's been escalated to physical force, but we have his family member saying he was in a good mood. He was buying donuts from 7-Eleven.

And we have other witnesses saying, I didn't see him attacking the police. I just saw the police taking him down and beating him. So with the evidence we have, the video evidence we have, we don't have Manny attacking the police. We have the police attacking him. And all we have is the police saying he attacked them first, which, okay, we don't know how this started, but...

But when they're saying they never tased him, I have a problem here because I'm like, but you did. Your initial statement of never tasing him is wrong, false, or a lie. It really calls into question here, and this is why the family is getting really upset with the statements given by the Tacoma Washington Police Department.

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That's ShipStation.com, code Gen Y. We know that officers rarely face charges, and in 2018, Washington voters passed Initiative 940. To give you some idea, before 940 was passed, prosecutors had to prove malice if they wanted to try a law enforcement officer for using deadly force inappropriately in court.

This is obviously an extremely difficult hurdle to overcome. In fact, a Washington police officer had not faced charges like this since 1938. So 940 passed in 2018. It removed that standard and made it easier to prosecute officers for unlawful use of deadly force, which is what you talked about earlier. You know, it's not like they had to use deadly force. They were just restraining him, supposedly. So the death of Manny...

was the second time this new standard would be applied to a death in police custody and the first that would actually go to trial.

Now, Detective Ed Troyer of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office was the lead investigator on the case. He never shared much information with the media, which is typical of investigations. But in early June of 2020, he said he was almost ready to present the case to prosecutors. However, after three months of investigation, several concerning things came to light. First, a sheriff's deputy disappeared.

Detective Sergeant Gary Sanders arrived as backup and helped put Manny into leg restraints, even though he was off duty at the time, moonlighting as a security guard. So this posed a major conflict of interest. Second, the Tacoma Police Department and the Sheriff's Office worked closely together as their jurisdictions bordered each other.

Collins and Rankin were key witnesses in an unrelated Sheriff's Department investigation. This is another conflict of interest. The combination of these two things led to public outcry. On June 17, 2020, Governor Jay Inslee directed the Washington State Patrol, the WSP, to take over the case and conduct a thorough investigation.

Because the public is saying, you're literally investigating yourself. This is a conflict of interest. You can't be doing this. Somebody else has to. Yeah. So it's one thing to say it's independent, but when you prove it's not really independent, that's a problem.

In November 2020, the WSP sent its report to the Washington State Attorney General's Office. The AGO formed a multidisciplinary team to look further into the case. The two organizations laid out a detailed timeline created by forensic video and audio analysis using law enforcement interviews, video and audio recordings, and eyewitness interviews. The officers did not have body cameras, but did give interviews to the Sheriff's Department just after the incident.

Unfortunately, they refused to talk to the WSP and AGO, so they had to use the previous interviews in their investigation. The audio and video media consisted of cell phone videos, a doorbell video, audio from the dispatch radio, and taser activation data. In total, the WSP and AGO investigation consisted of more than 2,169 pages.

Let's talk about these officers who are in the crosshairs now, at least in the public. We have Matthew J. Collins. He was born April 9th, 1983. He was 36 at the time. He was married with four children. He served in the U.S. Army for seven years and was an Army Ranger.

On June 15th of 2015, Collins joined the TPD. He trained in control tactics, range safety, SWAT, and crisis prevention. Collins was also trained in martial arts and taught self-defense classes.

After being placed on leave in 2020, he moved to Oregon and attended trade school, obviously to further his career somewhere else. Christopher Shane Burbank was born on August 23rd, 1985. He was 34 at the time. Burbank was married with two children. From 2002 to 2010, he served in the U.S. Army and earned a Medal of Valor in Iraq. He was honorably discharged.

Before moving to Washington, he worked as a police officer in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. On December 1st, 2015, Burbank joined the TPD, where he and Collins were partners for four years. Now, he only had one infraction on his record with the TPD at that point.

In July of 2016, Burbank was using the police computer in his car when he rear-ended a car stopped at a red light. He completed an online course about distracted driving and reviewed department policies with his supervisor. Burbank's police training included crisis prevention. And we keep bringing up the crisis prevention because if Manny was having a crisis that night, you would hope that this training could have helped.

Anyways, the third officer was Timothy Eugene Rankin. He was born November 16th, 1988. He was 31. He had also served in the US Army for six years as an infantryman and earned a Purple Heart.

For two years, Rankin worked as a security contractor for the U.S. State Department. While there, he trained in tactical combat casualty care. And on August 6th of 2018, Rankin joined the Tacoma Police Department. He was trained in crisis intervention, and he volunteered and fundraised for several charities.

All these guys have military backgrounds and seem to have the right training. You know, it's what went wrong this night where during a detainment, somebody dies. And Rankin's partner was Mycia Ford. He was born 1992, graduated from Stadium High School in Tacoma, and went to Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. For a summer, Ford worked at North Cascades National Park through a program to bring more diversity to national parks.

For two years, he worked for Pierce Transit as a public safety officer. It was in March of 2018 when Ford joined the Tacoma Police Department. Interestingly enough, Mycia Ford, Manuel Ellis' mother, was his mentor when he was in school. He was very familiar with her.

So let's go over this timeline just so we have a clear overview of everything that happened. Because originally, we kind of just gave everything from the point of view of the police. Now, with all of this other data, the taser data, the cell phone videos and eyewitness accounts, the ring doorbell footage, we have a clearer picture of what this timeline is.

So March 3rd, 2020 at 1121 p.m., Burbank and Collins Cruiser was on the east side of the intersection on 96th and Ainsworth stopped at a red light. The intersection is a T with Ainsworth coming up from the south to meet 96th. Behind the officer's vehicle was Sarah McDowell in her own car and her ex-boyfriend KL, their two daughters, were behind her in his car. So there are two vehicles following this police cruiser.

Sarah and KL were going to drop the girls off with Sarah's sister. To their left on Ainsworth was Samuel Cowden, a pizza delivery driver, on his way back to the restaurant after delivery. None of these witnesses knew Manny or the officers. Sarah and KL saw Manny walking on the sidewalk towards them and the officers. He stopped and had a brief interaction with the officers who were sitting in their vehicle. Sarah later said that the 10 to 15 second conversation seemed casual as

as though the officers knew him from somewhere maybe. They both said Manny showed no signs of aggression before turning to walk away. But before he could walk away, Burbank, who was on the passenger side, abruptly opened his door and slammed it into Manny, knocking him to his knees. Samuel also confirmed seeing the door open and Manny fall.

Burbank exited the vehicle and as Manny attempted to get up, got on top of him. All three witnesses watched as Collins exited the driver's side and ran around to the front of the cruiser towards Manny and Burbank.

So it's at 11.21 p.m., 46 seconds. Sarah started recording this interaction on her cell phone. Burbank wrapped his arms around Manny, lifted him into the air, and drove him down onto the pavement while hitting him with his fist. Manny curled his legs towards his body, and the 7-Eleven bag could be seen drifting away.

At this point, Collins moved to Manny and put his whole weight down on him while punching Manny's head, and Manny can be heard screaming after each strike. Burbank drew his taser and got closer to Manny. After four strikes from Collins, Sarah opened the door and yelled, Hey, stop. Oh my God. Stop hitting him. Stop hitting him. Just arrest him.

And at 11.21.56, Samuel, the delivery driver, started recording on his cell phone. Collins was behind Manny and placed him in a lateral vascular neck restraint, or more commonly known as chokehold. Now again, in the video, this doesn't seem to be held for very long. It seems that the police officer grabbed Manny from behind and pulled him back.

So Collins is now put him in this chokehold, but Manny could see Burbank aiming his taser at his chest. So Manny put his arm straight up in the air with his open palms facing Burbank. This is him trying to surrender. Collins pulled Manny backwards by the neck, which caused Manny to fall backwards onto him. Then the officer twisted his hold of Manny's neck to roll him on his side onto the street. For a moment, Manny moved his hands towards Collins' arm around his neck.

But upon looking at Burbank again, who was still aiming the taser at him, Manny quickly put his hands up again with the palms open towards the officer.

Burbank fired the taser into Manny, shocked him for five seconds, which is the time limit typically on these tasers, while Collins was still applying this chokehold or holding him from behind. By this point, Kael had jumped out of his car and yelled, hey, you all are in the wrong now, meaning you've gone too far. Sarah rebuked him later saying she was afraid that Kael might become the officer's next target. And she said, get back in the car.

As the taser cycle ended, Manny was motionless with Collins' arms still around his neck. Collins removed his arms and Manny's head fell limp towards the pavement. Collins then pushed down on the back of Manny's head with his forearm, moving it towards the pavement, just pressing his face and his head down into the pavement.

So this interaction here seems to greatly differ from the police report and the statements taken the night of.

At 11.22 and 14 seconds p.m., Burbank Radio Dispatch, who relayed that Collins and Burbank were having unknown trouble at the intersection of 96th and Ainsworth and they needed backup. Manny began to move again by writhing his legs and body while screaming. The officers held his arms behind his back and applied pressure down into his body. At 11.22 and 26 seconds, Burbank again sent a five-second taser round

into the probe still stuck in Manny's chest. Manny continued to scream and writhe.

So it's 11.22 p.m. Sarah and Kale decided to drive around the police cruiser. As Sarah passed them, she recorded one of the officers telling Manny to put his hands behind his back and the other saying, you're going to get it again, meaning the taser. Samuel also decided to drive on at this point and recorded Burbank again, tasing Manny for the five-second interval.

And at 11, 23, and 25 seconds, less than a minute later, there's doorbell video recording Manny telling the officers, can't breathe, sir, can't breathe. The doorbell was about 112 feet away from the confrontation, and yet you can still hear Manny screaming out that he can't breathe. Manny continued to plead with the officers, calling them, sir.

Finally, one of them told him to shut the F up, man. Yeah. And obviously you're going to have people who don't remember things, don't recall things correctly. But if a doorbell video can record Manuel Ellis screaming and you can hear it so clearly, then why can't they hear it? Or did they choose not to hear it?

And here's the problem. Police officers will say, if you can talk, you can breathe. So if you're saying I can't breathe, then you're lying because you can because you're talking. So I guess we should die in silence and not say anything? What are the options here? If you can't breathe, you can't breathe.

I know the answer to this, and that's that you always need to speak up. But it's just going to be used against you. According to every single time we hear somebody saying, I can't breathe, the police officers say, you're talking so you can breathe. Well, maybe you're using your last breath to say, I can't breathe. It's a terrible thought.

At 11.24 and 19 seconds p.m., backup started arriving, and backup continued to arrive for 11 minutes after Burbank's radio call for help. Officers Ford and Rankin were the first on the scene, and just seconds later, Rankin ran towards Manny, Burbank, and Collins. Manny at this point was prone on his stomach with Burbank on his back and Collins on his legs. His hands were handcuffed behind his back. Rankin relieved Burbank and put all of his weight in the middle of Manny's back.

Rankin's right knee was secured over the top of Manny's spine, just below the base of his neck, and his left knee was in the middle of his spine on his lower back. Rankin kicked out his ankles so he was essentially sitting on Manny's back. According to Rankin, Manny started making really strange animal grunting noises and said, in a very calm voice, that he couldn't breathe.

Now, Rankin is one of those officers that acknowledged that Manny did say he couldn't breathe. So Rankin told him, if you're talking to me, you can breathe just fine. Rankin moved his right knee towards Manny's shoulder. Manny violently thrashed his body, according to Rankin. So he moved his knee back to the middle of Manny's spine. In the audio, Manny can be heard continually telling officers he couldn't breathe.

Now, we don't have to be scientists, right? We don't have to know human anatomy. We know because we've been in this situation, maybe not because of officers, but I'm sure you've had someone on your back, Justin, and it's really difficult to breathe. And if you can't breathe or if you feel like you can't breathe, your body starts to panic. Your mind starts to panic, which would also affect your breathing.

It's hard enough to breathe laying on your stomach, much less having somebody pushing down on you. And then when he says that he moved his knee towards Manny's shoulder and Manny began violently thrashing around, obviously he's causing Manny a lot of pain. And Manny's, again, prone, handcuffed, but they're wanting to cause him more pain. He's hogtied. What's he going to do? He's going to get up and move? Why are you having to push on him?

This is the problem here, and we'll get into it later. But my problem with this is you're denying somebody error and then denying that you're doing that. It's the ultimate gaslighting.

While Rankin was holding Manny down, Collins and Burbank remained nearby. So backup still arriving, Collins asked for hobbles over the radio. A hobble is a nylon strap that is used to restrain the legs. A little after 11.25 p.m., Rankin put pressure into Manny's back while a hobble was tied around his legs and then tied to the handcuffs that were behind his back. This is when he's hogtied.

So Manny's supine on his stomach while hogtied. And just seconds later, Sergeant Michael Lim radioed to say officers could slow their approach to the scene. During that call, Manny can be heard in the background saying his last known words. He said, can't breathe, can't breathe. After this, he went quiet and didn't move anymore. Manny started to make noises that sounded like snoring. This is known as agonal breathing.

This is what a person does before they die and is often their last breaths.

Rankin told other officers to roll Manny on his side so he could look for weapons. He didn't find any, and that's when he removed the taser probes from Manny's chest. He also noticed Manny was hot, sweating, and bleeding from his face. So it's now 1125 and 40 seconds. The dispatcher asked if anyone needed medical attention. Sergeant Lim said, yeah, go ahead and start fire. Check him out. This is good, I guess.

The Tacoma Fire Department, the TFD, was not informed about the gravity of the situation or Manny's condition. They were told that officers were requesting an eval after arrest, which is very different.

According to Rankin, Manny violently started thrashing all over again, and he advised other officers to roll him from his side back onto his stomach, where pressure was again applied to him. Two other officers stated Manny stopped moving after the hobble was applied, and the situation was pretty controlled, which is contradicting Rankin's statement, saying he's thrashing about again.

So we have one guy saying, move him back onto his stomach. And we have two other officers saying, no, he's detained. He's restrained. We're fine. Either way, Rankin's knee was now around Manny's right shoulder blade and his left knee was in the middle of Manny's back. He is kneeling on Manny. So Manny still can't breathe because he is in a position where he cannot get air into his lungs.

Timothy Rankin was 6'2 and 200 pounds. So having a 200-pound man on your back like this, not the best idea. At 11.27 p.m., Sergeant Lim told dispatch to tell the fire department they would also need an ambulance and possibly restraints due to Manny's behavior. Around this time, a newly arrived officer for RENUS put a spit hood over Manny's head to protect others at the scene because he's being told Manny is being difficult, he's thrashing around, he could hurt somebody.

Manny is obviously hogtied now with a spit hood on the ground under Rankin's weight.

At 11.32 and 47 seconds p.m., this is more than seven minutes after the first call for medical, dispatch finally told the fire department they should run priority, though they did not tell them about Manny's breathing difficulties. At 11.34 p.m., the fire department arrived at the scene. Before they could get to Manny, Rankin got off of him and rolled him to his side. He said he knew that's the best position to put someone in. It's like the recovery position is what they called it. He took Manny's pulse and found it was a lot slower than he expected.

The paramedics took over at this point, and they saw that Manny was in a dire situation, and without medical intervention, he would likely die. When the paramedic asked Rankin to remove Manny's restraints to start an IV, Rankin resisted, not wanting Manny to start fighting again. The paramedics insisted, and Rankin took off the hobble and handcuffs. The spit hood was also removed at some point.

Despite their efforts, Manny died at the intersection of 96th and Ainsworth, only a few feet from where the altercation originally started.

I think this is very important. Less than 20 minutes passes and a man is dead. We have contradictory statements from police officers. We have them saying they didn't do this, they didn't do that, they didn't hear him say this. But we have video evidence of them doing it. And we have other witnesses that saw it and videoed it. So it's just sad that what should have been a

typical talking to de-escalation or detainment results in a man's death so quickly.

Now, these officers were said to have not cooperated with the WSP and AGO investigation. Dr. Clark, who performed the autopsy when he got the new information regarding that the weight of an officer was on Manny's back, he also got heart monitor readings that showed a gradual decline in heart activity. This is the information that led Dr. Clark to conclude it was unlikely Manny's methoxytoxication contributed to his death as slow heart rate and pulseless electrical activity

are not caused by meth. Also, the gradual nature of his death excludes the sudden medical emergency that would have been connected to his enlarged heart. Dr. Clark then concluded Manny's death was a direct result of physical restraint resulting in respiratory distress and death.

This is also important because you can have people with different viewpoints, different opinions, but this is the person conducting the autopsy who, when they have all of the information, can say, yes, this individual was on meth, but no, that had nothing to do with why he is now deceased.

And this is, of course, the narrative that's going to be used, is his drug use killed him. We saw it in the George Floyd case, and now we're seeing it in Manny's case. And also keep in mind, like I've said before, people on drugs, they can cause problems for law enforcement, for the public. But when you have officers stating that,

here's how everything started. And then other people, the witnesses, we have three of them disputing that and they have cell phone video. Then what are you supposed to do with that? Why would the officers not report this correctly? That would be the question that everyone should ask because it's not as though all law enforcement behaves this way.

The trouble is, is we need to hold people accountable if they do wrong. And it doesn't matter what your position is, or at least it shouldn't, because we should all have a fair shake at things. And it sounds like Manuel Ellis didn't get a fair shake on this night.

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So it's May 27th, 2021. This is over a year after Manny's death. Burbank, Collins, and Rankin were arrested for Manny's death. Burbank and Collins were charged with second-degree murder

and all three officers were charged with first-degree manslaughter. They surrendered themselves that evening and went to Pierce County Jail. The next day, all three pleaded not guilty, and each of their bails were set at $100,000. A man posted bail on their behalf. He didn't know any of the officers personally, but talked to others who knew them. He was assured they were great men. He also referenced Antifa leaking his phone number

and business address after he posted their bail. The three officers surrendered their firearms and passports and were not allowed to travel more than a county away from their county of residence. They also could not contact the witnesses or family or each other without their respective attorneys present. So they're being monitored and some quote-unquote good Samaritan has posted their bail.

And I do get this because he's probably thinking, I have the means. I can help these officers out. They're in a tough spot. And he's not thinking about what happened to Manuel Ellis necessarily because he's probably thinking, well, that was a guy on drugs. He probably attacked the officers. They had to do what they had to do to try and restrain this guy. And now they're being put through the ringer. And if you look in the backgrounds of these officers, there is a lot to look at and say, wow, they're probably really good men.

But again, when you have a situation that comes up, you have to examine that situation and understand how it went down. And if you have video and audio evidence that what they said occurred is not true, then there's a problem. This is why these officers are going to trial.

September 18th, 2023, the trial began with jury selection. The jury and alternates consisted of seven men and five women. Nine were white, two were black, and one was biracial, Asian and white. On October 2nd, the jury heard opening statements, and the trial lasted 10 weeks, convening four days a week and ending on December 13th.

It was postponed because two of the jurors tested positive for COVID during this time.

The prosecution, led by Special Assistant Attorney General Patty Eakes, set out to prove that the officers targeted a man who was not causing trouble, failed to listen to him when he said he couldn't breathe, and ultimately caused his death through negligence. She said if the officers had listened to Manny when he said he couldn't breathe, he would still be alive. Eakes said they chose instead to treat him like an animal in the most dehumanizing position you can imagine. The defense, they

They maintain that Manny started the incident by attacking the officers and died as a result of restraint from a drug overdose and a damaged heart.

Essentially, the officers did their job, and unfortunately, Manny died. The trial boiled down to whether the jury believed the eyewitness testimony or the officer's testimony. And I find that interesting because why would video or audio lie, right? But yet, some people will just take the word of someone over what we would call forensic evidence. So for second-degree murder, the prosecution had to prove the officers committed a felony, which

which led to Manny's death. They argued that the officers did not have any reason to restrain Manny or use force on him, which means their actions could be considered assault or unlawful detainment. The defense, they said the officers had probable cause because Manny hit their patrol car. The force the officers used against Manny was justified because he resisted arrest. Collins' attorney said resisting arrest is a justification for arrest.

That almost sounds like they can claim whatever they want. I think that if you're only charged with resisting arrest, there's a problem there. A resisting arrest should be a secondary charge. You should be like, oh, well, this is what you were doing wrong. You assaulted a police officer and resisted arrest. You did X and this is why you got Z. But that's not really what happens. It's just you can be charged with resisting arrest because they can arrest you for nothing, apparently.

Yeah, that's the way I'm reading this. For manslaughter, the prosecution needed to prove the officers recklessly caused Manny's death. How he was restrained, supine on his stomach with the weight of a man, and ignoring his pleas to breathe both indicate the officers were acting recklessly. The defense on their part said Manny's death was accidental. After years of drug abuse, Manny's body was vulnerable to sudden death

especially since he had meth in his system that very night. One defense attorney said, this is a situation where he created his own death. Sounds like blaming the victim. It was his behavior that forced the officers to use force against him. That sounds like they're blaming the victim. Well, they are. This is what they have to do in this situation. I didn't know drug use could cause sudden death at any moment.

I'm pretty sure that if A, Manny had continued walking home, he would still be alive. Or B, if they had simply restrained him and put him in cuffs and left him seated on the curb, he would still be alive. He would not be dead from some weird sudden death syndrome that they bring up from drug use. If that was the case, then we would have a lot more dead people on this planet, but we don't.

Yeah, this doesn't sound like a coincidence, but we do have witnesses that were at the trial. Sarah, KL, and Samuel, they were there. They said Manny was not aggressive as he approached the police car. They did not see him in the intersection or striking the patrol vehicle. Officer Burbank was the one who started the altercation by opening his car door to knock Manny over. This is what all three witnesses say. They also did not see or record Manny acting aggressively after he was being detained.

If you have somebody punching you in the face, if you have somebody restraining you in a very painful way, you're going to tense up. You're

You're going to fight back a little because it's just human instinct. It's just your body fighting against pain. But this is always used in a way of, oh, you're resisting arrest because you're tensing up or you're putting your hands up to block my punches. That's resisting arrest. Okay.

This is my problem here is if resisting arrest can be defined as you're tensing up, then everything is resisting and they can justify anything they want to do.

Now, the defense is going to claim that these three eyewitnesses are not credible. First, they didn't see the beginning of the incident when Manny was being aggressive. They only saw when Manny was being detained. The witnesses did not have video evidence of anything before Manny was on the ground, so there was no way to prove he was calm. They pointed to Sarah's cry of just arrest him as proof that she saw him do something before the video started.

The defense also didn't like that Manny's family attorney was the one who collected the videos and interviews, implying that the attorney may have tampered with the videos in some way. That's a pretty weak argument. But they do give testimonies saying they saw this start, and then once things went down, that's when they pulled their phones out and started recording. So no, we do not have video footage of how this incident started.

We only have video after it started. And I don't think someone saying, just arrest him, proves that he had done anything wrong. It just proves that they're saying, stop beating him. If you're trying to arrest him, just arrest him.

Yeah, get him into a vehicle. Take him to the station. Now, Collins and Rankin testified during the trial, but Burbank did not. In general, these two officers, Collins and Rankin, were consistent with their official statements given right after the incident. However, the attorney, Eakes, reminded the jury that Burbank and Collins gave their official statements before they knew there was video evidence. Collins maintained Manny was aggressive by lifting him off the ground and throwing him through the air.

Collins weighed about 230 pounds with his gear on, which made him extremely hard to lift, and no one else witnessed him be lifted like that. Collins also maintained he didn't hear Manny say he couldn't breathe. His attorney said that after being in hand-to-hand combat, people don't hear everything going on around them. Which, I get that. You're in a heightened situation. You might not catch what's going on, but he's saying, I can't breathe for 10 minutes, not just during this altercation.

So Collins did testify. It was his voice saying, shut the F up after Manny asked for air, said I couldn't breathe. So Collins is responding to him when he's saying, I can't breathe. He's saying, shut up. But he said he could not make out what Manny said before that. Okay. So he's just telling him to shut up. He doesn't care what he's saying.

Ford testified he heard Manny say he couldn't breathe in the presence of Collins and Burbank. Rankin confirmed hearing Manny as well. Eeks urged the jury to compare the officer's statements to those of the witnesses and the video to determine their credibility, which, again,

There's statements that these police officers gave that are in direct contradiction to the video evidence, and I don't think the attorney did anything with the video. If anything, you can crop a video, you can cut pieces off, but you can't manipulate it where Manny's not fighting back. That's just not going to happen.

Experts in police procedure and excessive force also testified they agreed that the officers acted outside of police best practices and used excessive force that caused Manny's death. The defense had their own experts testify the officers only used the amount of force needed to subdue Manny while he resisted.

After his 2019 arrest, Manny told his mental health counselor he felt extremely nervous around police, which could explain any strange behavior. The defense showed a video of Manny's 2019 arrest where he was shown high, naked, and charging at deputies. This is why I brought it up that when people are not sober, they can behave very differently. They said that this was the version of Manny the officers encountered the night he died. The prosecution said most of Manny's interactions with police had

So they have a lot of examples here, many examples of interactions with police where there are no problems. Manny just answering questions and questioning.

He's responding to the officers as he's being directed to. So really, the jury is left at this point when they go to deliberate with the testimony of two of the officers at the scene, as well as the three witnesses. They have the video footage, the audio to listen to. It seems like they have enough here. And you have the medical examiner saying the police officer's restraint caused his death. It was not methamphetamine or an enlarged heart.

This was a big deal during the trial with this medical examiner's testimony. So they go to deliberate. What happens here? So they deliberate for three days. They managed to reach a consensus on one count for one person, but they were still holdout jurors keeping a unanimous decision from happening for the rest of the charges. Several alternates were also swapped in. Finally, they were able to agree and avert a mistrial.

On December 21st, 2023, the jury found Burbank, Collins, and Rankin not guilty of all charges. This obviously made the police officers and their families very happy. They hugged each other in court, and one attorney said it brought a huge, huge sigh of relief. And obviously, Manny's family walked out of the courtroom immediately. So Manny's sister, Monet, led a group of protesters through Tacoma's hilltop neighborhood to

To Manny's mural chanting, no justice, no peace.

She led them to lay yellow roses and tea candles under the mural beside framed photos of Manny, as well as others killed by police in Washington. Multiple people made speeches and other calls to action. Monet said through a bullhorn, Do you see us crying? They're guilty. We know that they're guilty. We knew that they were guilty. The group grew to more than 100 people and marched to a nearby Tacoma Police Department station before going back to the mural and disbanding.

They carried signs reading, I can't breathe, justice for Manny.

The reactions to the verdict were varied, but all expressed the unfairness of it. Some expected acquittal and were unsurprised by the news. Others felt sick to their stomachs, disgusted, angry. Overall, the verdict seemed to point to the brokenness of law enforcement and the legal system. I agree here because I think if somebody dies during an arrest and

and you didn't shoot them if you weren't using deadly force, then there's a problem that needs to be addressed. And whether or not these police officers are culpable doesn't matter. Something needs to change. People should not be dying while they're being restrained. Period. That's my take on this.

State Senator Yasmin Trudeau said, I'm scared for what this tells our community members who are begging to be seen. Now, there's a list of things that the jury wasn't told during the trial. A state police academy trainer was not allowed to describe Rankin's mental break during a test where he unnecessarily shot a virtual suspect. There was also a lawsuit that alleged Rankin used excessive force against a different man who said he couldn't breathe under his weight.

Burbank's police record showed more than 15 use-of-force investigations and a racial profiling allegation from his time in North Carolina. Eakes was also not allowed to fully question an expert who claimed the officers had not gone against their training. Yet the victim in this case, Manny, his background is used against him, but we can't use a suspect in a murder trial. Got it.

So Monet said, it felt like my brother was on trial. The prosecution was not able to talk about Manny's mundane, sober moments in life. They were also not allowed to bring up Manny's 40 contacts with police. That did not result in an altercation, just a number of them, a small number. The judge said they were irrelevant because they did not show his state of mind during the time he died. Instead, the previous arrests did.

The jury was also not told about the Sheriff's Department's failed investigation and the reasons the WSP and AGO took over the case, obviously because of conflicts of interest.

The judge seemed to favor the defense in most of his rulings. He also asked questions directly to witnesses several times and inserted a reason to exclude evidence that the defense had not brought up. Both of these things seem very odd for a judge. Yeah, if the defense doesn't object, if the defense isn't fighting against evidence, the evidence goes in.

But this judge took it upon himself to object for the defense, I guess. That is very odd behavior and should not be happening because a judge is the referee. They're just supposed to be unbiased and make sure that the proceedings go as planned. They're not supposed to insert themselves into the trial, only the sentencing at the end. That's it.

And for this guy to question witnesses directly and exclude evidence, this should be a mistrial. This should be appealed. But when you're found not guilty, prosecution doesn't get to do that.

The Tacoma Police Department started an internal investigation to determine if the officers violated department policy. We're talking about Burbank, Collins, and Rankin. The investigation included the evidence previously stated and the officers' testimonies at trial. They specifically waited until after the trial, though for reasons that are unknown. As a result of the investigation, the TPD overhauled more than two dozen police policies. This included the use of force policy, the

that failed to serve the best interests of the police department or the community. Collins had violated the department's policy on courtesy, but Burbank and Rankin had been cleared of departmental violations. Burbank, Collins, and Rankin agreed to resign from their positions at the TPD voluntarily. Each was offered $500,000 to resign from the TPD in addition to other standard payouts and benefits required by law.

They also resigned in good standing with the department. And it's here that we just saw that they were found not guilty by the jury. And then there's an internal review that finds that there is a problem. And

And then for some reason, even though that overall, it seems like everyone's saying that these officers did nothing wrong. Now they're being asked to resign and being handed large amounts of money. Who wouldn't resign for half a million dollars? Who wouldn't? I mean, that's like a bonus. I mean, this is insane. And obviously Manny's family, they think this is perverse. They think this is absolutely disgusting. By the way, the thing that Collins violated the police department's policy on courtesy.

It's because he told Manny to shut the F up. That was what that was tied to. He used harsh language, so that was against department policy. But someone dying because of your restraint, that's not against department policy. That's the problem here. If they weren't in violation of a department's policy and someone dies in your custody, then the policy needs to change. They

They didn't violate the policy. They're saying everything's fine. And then they change the policies. It's like they're saying, don't hold anyone accountable, but we will make changes. They're protecting their own. That's what this is. And I get it. There are going to be people who see this completely differently. And that's fine. But it just doesn't make sense because they're changing policies despite saying there's nothing wrong.

That is a clear sign that there is something wrong. They're just not going to allow anyone to hold these people accountable. But, you know, you got to give it to them. The jury found that they didn't do anything wrong. So we're left with a lot of confusion here. But I do find it interesting that they keep talking about what's good for the community. The community obviously wasn't happy about this.

So, Manny's family, they're obviously not going to let this slide. They filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Tacoma, Pierce County, and six Tacoma police officers, including Burbank, Collins, Rankin, and Ford.

two sheriffs, and two sheriff's deputies. They accused the two departments of hiding information about Manny's death and creating a false narrative. The family was seeking $30 million. In March of 2022, before the criminal trial, Pierce County reached a $4 million settlement with Manny's family. In exchange, the family dropped the suit against the county and the other deputies. The suit against the city and officers is still pending.

So we'll see how that goes. The state of Washington created the Office of Independent Investigations in the aftermath of June 2020 and Manny's death. They are tasked with investigating police shootings as an independent party. After the verdict, the director, Roger Rogoff, said, I'm just hopeful that we can do these investigations better than they've been done in the past. Hopefully this is a change.

So these three officers were essentially cleared. One of them, though, sued. Timothy Rankin and his wife, Catherine Chin, by way of their attorney, Joan Mell, filed lawsuits. What they're doing is they're saying that they've been defamed because of what happened. It was said that they were racist. Apparently, they're seeking $47 million. Yeah.

Yet they were found not guilty and released on good standing and given half a million dollars. So I'm wondering where they're finding these claims. Obviously, they have something there, but it seems that they got off rather nicely here, but that's not good enough. So they have to sue for more. Well, so it's one thing to say we left in good standing. We can be hired somewhere else and maybe they would be, but at least on the part of this officer, right?

Rankin, he's saying they falsely accused him of being racist and of criminal misconduct. So he's saying that his reputation has been destroyed.

When we look at how this all turned out, the jury acquitted him. He's got that on his side. Yeah, I guess every single person who's found not guilty would have standing to file a lawsuit for libel or defamation or whatever it is. Yeah, so I'd like to hear from people. What do you think about this? What do you think about this officer trying to seek $47 million? Yeah.

And if you do agree with it, tell us why. I mean, I'd like to know. I'd like to hear from people on both sides of this. The only thing I can finish with is I do feel like the prosecutor in this case, Eeks, was correct. I agree with her when she said if they hadn't attempted to restrain him, Manuel Ellis would still be alive. I believe that.

We always hear about police departments talking about how they don't have budgets for body cams or dash cams, but body cams and dash cams have a huge impact, can prevent major lawsuits, but the police department's never on the hook for a lawsuit. It's always the city. It's always somebody else. So they don't care about the lawsuit aspect of this, but body cams have been shown to

to lower police misconduct allegations. They've been shown to save time when doing police reports because the police officer doesn't have to sit here and remember every single detail. They can just review the body cam footage. They have been said to decrease fatal citizen encounters. There's so much good that goes with body cameras. There's so much good that goes with the documentation.

And this is where everything about this case could have been resolved if one of them had a body camera running or their dash cam running, because we would have seen the initial incident, how this occurred, who instigated. And there wouldn't be any question, but because they claim they don't have the budget for it.

Well, we don't know. And this is why the community is upset and wants transparency because $60 could have saved all of this. If it would have shown Manny being the aggressor, I don't think we would have had as much of a heated argument about this. But personally, regardless of whether these police officers were following policy or procedure, if the policy or procedure results in someone's death, that policy and procedure needs to change.

You cannot restrain somebody and it result in their death and then claim it was a drug overdose. Unless they're dying of that drug overdose before you reach them, it's not a drug overdose. That's just not how that works. And they bring up excited delirium.

You know what excited delirium is? It's a made-up term. But in my mind, it's when your body is dumping adrenaline to defend itself because you're being killed. And if you want to call that excited delirium cause your death, well, it's because you're being attacked by somebody and you have an adrenaline dump because you're in fear for your life and you are dying. That's what that is. So no matter where you stand on a case like this where officers are restraining someone and that person dies,

I think the takeaway here is just what you laid out, body cams. Because if you're leaving it up to the officers to remember what happened and to recount what happened or even to know why they did what they did, that's all irrelevant if there's a body camera running. That's the takeaway. ♪♪♪

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