TACOMA, Wash. — The Washington State Attorney General's (AG) office is expected to announce whether any Tacoma police officers will face charges related to the death of Manuel Ellis on Thursday.
As Washington awaits the AG's decision, residents in Tacoma say the waiting is sending a message all on its own.
“We’re talking over a year later,” said Katrina Johnson of Families on the Frontline. “Justice would’ve been those officers already being in jail, awaiting what comes next. Justice would’ve been Mannie still being alive, justice would be charges being filed a long time ago and not waiting on pins and needles.”
Manuel Ellis was 33-years-old when he died in Tacoma police custody in March of 2020. The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled Ellis's death a homicide.
The news of Ellis’s death sent shockwaves across Tacoma. Last March, video footage emerged showing Tacoma police officers repeatedly hitting Ellis, who was also put into a chokehold. In the video, he’s heard saying “I can’t breathe, sir.”
The video footage also shows more officers were directly involved than what was officially stated, which prompted activists to call for an independent investigation, and for Tacoma residents to take notice because this kind of behavior by law enforcement can’t be tolerated.
“I refuse to be a part of a criminal justice system that would be so blatant and disrespectful to people of color,” said Dee Sonntag, co-founder of Lawyers Against Systemic Racism (LASR). “I would charge any person in our community who didn’t know about Mr. Ellis’s case, or what’s been going on in Mr. Ellis’s case to wake up and to pay attention because we cannot stand by and allow this to happen.”
Since his death, Ellis’s family has worked to address issues with policing, a mission many who've had their families impacted this way have taken on.
“You always feel a sense of responsibility to try and do something better for the community so they don’t have to experience what you’ve experienced,” Johnson said. “That horrific pain and trauma that you live with, day in and day out.”
But on the eve of the Attorney General’s announcement, the question remains: What kind of message is being sent if the officers aren’t charged?
“I can’t stress enough the negative implications in a message that would be sent to us with no charges,” Sonntag said. “That’s a green light, in my opinion, to stop, harass, and murder men who’re walking home at night after getting some snacks from 7-11, and you can lie about what happened, even though you’re contradicted by three eyewitnesses, and there’s still no recourse but paid administrative leave. That message is so disturbing to me, not only as a public defender, but as a Tacoma community member.”