Three Washington state police officers acquitted in killing of Black man
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00:00 Manuel Ellis, 33 years old, was walking late at night
00:05 with some donuts, just been into a convenience store
00:08 in Tacoma, about 30 miles from Seattle.
00:11 This is early 2020.
00:13 Witnesses said they saw him have a brief interaction
00:17 with police at a patrol car,
00:19 and then police knock him to the ground, restrain him,
00:24 use a taser to shock him, tie his arms,
00:29 and legs behind his back, and put their weight on him.
00:34 And Ellis was heard to say, "Please, I can't breathe,"
00:39 which suddenly has haunting echoes
00:41 of the George Floyd incident.
00:43 So the prosecution accused the police
00:47 of murder and manslaughter charges.
00:50 The defense, however, argued that Ellis had resisted arrest
00:56 and that he'd ultimately died of a drug
01:00 and heart condition complication.
01:03 And that was what the jury found
01:07 in the end acquitting all three officers.
01:10 A devastating verdict for the family
01:13 and disappointment for the prosecutor.
01:15 The first test of a new law in Seattle
01:19 to bring police accountability,
01:21 but in this instance, not guilty was the verdict.