This article**[CCTV News Client];
According to CNN on December 21, local time, a jury of three *** people suspected of killing an African-American man in March 2020 in the course of law enforcement was found not guilty.
The police officers involved are reportedly from Tacoma City, Pierce County, Washington, and are named Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins, and Timothy Rankin. Burbank and Collins were charged with second-degree ** and first-degree manslaughter, Rankin was charged with first-degree manslaughter, and the jury found all three guilty on the 21st.
It is reported that on the evening of March 3, 2020, Manuel Ellis, a 33-year-old African-American man, went to a convenience store to buy a supper. According to Burbank and Collins, Ellis tried to stop a car at an intersection and they considered Ellis an "attacker," saying he also slammed on the window of a patrolling police car and assaulted officers as they got out of the car. However, some witnesses said that Ellis was beaten at the time of the incident. Surveillance cameras installed in a nearby home captured Ellis's last words saying, "I can't breathe, sir!."”
The Pierce County medical examiner determined that Ellis died of lack of oxygen due to restraint, and that Ellis's heart enlargement and methamphetamine poisoning were both contributing factors. However, AFP reported that the medical examiner later concluded that methamphetamine levels in Ellis's blood were unlikely to cause his death.
There are parallels between Ellis's death and the case of George Floyd, an African-American man who was killed by "kneeling" law enforcement. The Floyd case has sparked large-scale demonstrations against police brutality and racial discrimination in many parts of the United States and even around the world. Drake Chauvin, a former white police officer involved in the Floyd case, was convicted of **. (CCTV reporter Liu Xu).