Yeah, It's The Police Union ("Warrants Have Been Issued")

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

This is why the police should not be allowed to investigate themselves because they use a different standard when their judging their fellow brethren than that which our legal system uses in regards to regular citizens. If you think about it, there really is no justification for this two tier legal standard considering that the laws that grants them their police powers already gives them the authority to engage in many acts and behaviors that would be unlawful if engaged in by regular citizens.

Mannie Ellis case: Three Tacoma police officers charged in his death during 2020 arrest
Mannie Ellis case: Three Tacoma police officers charged in his death during 2020 arrest

---

by KOMO News Staff
Wednesday, May 26th 2021

TACOMA, Wash. — Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office announced Thursday that it has filed criminal charges against three Tacoma Police Department officers in connection with the death last year of Mannie Ellis. a stunning development that officials said marks an unprecedented decision.

News of the decision came via a written statement that was issued by the attorney general shortly before 11 a.m.

"This is the first time the Washington Attorney General’s Office has criminally charged police officers for the unlawful use of deadly force, and just the second time homicide charges have been filed in Washington against law enforcement officers since Washingtonians adopted Initiative 940 in November 2018," the statement said.

According to the statement, the charges were filed in Pierce County Superior Court and arrest warrants were issued for the three officers who include:

• Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins have been charged with second-degree murder
• Timothy Rankine has been charged with first-degree manslaughter.

As of 6:15 p.m. Thursday, all three of the officers had been taken into custody and booked into the Pierce County Jail. Rankine was the last one to be arrested. The other two officers were arrested earlier in the day.
Ferguson's office said if Burbank and Collins are convicted, they could face between 10 to 18 years in prison while Rankine could face 6.5 to 8.5 years in prison if convicted. The maximum sentence for both offenses is life in prison, the statement said.

Relatives of Mannie Ellis spoke about him and the decision to charge three Tacoma police officers.

Two other officers who were at the scene were not charged.

All five of the Tacoma officers involved in the case remained on administrative leave as of Thursday.

All three of the officers previously served in the U.S. Army, the attorney general's office said, and as police officers all had taken training on crisis intervention.

Collins, 38, and Burbank, 35, had each been an officer for four years by March 2020 after serving eight years in the Army. Rankine, 32, joined the department in 2018 after six years in the Army and two as a security contractor for the U.S. State Department.

Gov. Inslee weighs in​

In a written statement, Gov. Jay Inslee thanked Ferguson for his "comprehensive investigation" into the death of Ellis, 33.

This decision is within the authority of the attorney general’s office and I look forward to a full briefing on their findings," Inslee said. "This is the first step in our system of justice."

The Tacoma Police Union blasted the decision.

"We are disappointed that facts were ignored in favor of what appears to be a politically motivated witch hunt," the group said in a written statement. "We look forward to trial. An unbiased jury will find that the officers broke no laws and, in fact, acted in accordance with the law, their training, and Tacoma Police Department policies."

A team assembled by the attorney general that included two retired judges reviewed the case and helped formulate the decision to charge the officers, officials said.

James Bible, who represents the Ellis family, said Wednesday that the case will be the most important test of police accountability in the state. He was expected to hold a news conference Thursday afternoon.

On Tuesday evening, Ellis’ mother showed up at the street corner where her son died with a delivery of fresh flowers. Marcia Carter Patterson has turned the area into a kind of memorial garden, hoping to brighten a place that for her family leaves such dark memories.

Cell phone video taken the night of March 2020 shows when several Tacoma police officers took Ellis to the ground, used a Taser, then hobbled him with handcuffs, leg restraints and a spit mask.

“I can't breathe sir," Ellis told an officer, and which can be heard in the recording of a nearby security camera.

However, Tacoma police said that Ellis, who had methamphetamine in his system, showed superhuman strength during a struggle that night and officers decided to restrain him for his own safety.

Witnesses reported seeing Burbank and Collins, who are both white, attack Ellis without provocation, according to a probable cause statement filed in Pierce County Superior Court. Rankine, who is described as Asian in court documents, is accused of putting pressure on Ellis’ back as he said he couldn’t breathe.

The Pierce County medical examiner called Ellis' death a homicide and attributed it to lack of oxygen from being restrained, with an enlarged heart and methamphetamine intoxication as contributing factors.

The death made Ellis’ name synonymous with pleas for justice at protests in the Pacific Northwest. His final words — “I can’t breathe, sir!” — were captured by a home security camera, as was the retort from one of the officers: “Shut the (expletive) up, man.”

“Ellis was not fighting back,” the probable cause statement said. “All three civilian witnesses at the intersection ... state that they never saw Ellis strike at the officers.”

The state attorney general has had months to pour over the facts.

Continue reading here:
Mannie Ellis case: Three Tacoma police officers charged in his death during 2020 arrest

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

I quote

The Tacoma Police Union blasted the decision.

"We are disappointed that facts were ignored in favor of what appears to be a politically motivated witch hunt," the group said in a written statement. "We look forward to trial. An unbiased jury will find that the officers broke no laws and, in fact, acted in accordance with the law, their training, and Tacoma Police Department policies."

A "politically motivated witch hunt", now where have I heard this before? Repeatedly I might add.

Every reporter all felt compelled to remind the public "All are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law, etc. etc. etc...." Yeah, right.

 

[Polishprince]

Of course police are judged by a different standard.

Its part of the job of a police officer to beat the crap out of criminals to the fullest extent of the law, when it is called for.

So, while it is generally not legal for a private citizen to beat the fuck out of a miscreant- it is actually what a cop gets paid to do.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

This means every non-white person in America must rise up and pillage and destroy other people’s property!
It’s social justice!