Victoria Woodards, the mayor of Tacoma, Washington, says she wants the police officers involved in the fatal police arrest of Manuel Ellis fired
Woodards called for the terminations after a witness video emerged Thursday showing the 33-year-old black man being aggressively beaten and restrained
Manuel Ellis died in a police restraint while yelling ‘I can’t breathe’: Washington medical examiner rules father-of-two Manuel Ellis’s death was a homicide after he was handcuffed during his arrest in March 3
In the new footage, a woman filming the arrest from her car is heard yelling out to the officers to stop as they are seen throwing punches at Ellis
Ellis previously was only heard in a recording of police radio yelling ‘I can’t breathe’ as the officers restrained and handcuffed him
He is seen on the ground in the footage kicking at the cops, who are later seen in the footage holding him down
Mayor Woodards called on the Pierce County Sheriff to follow up with an investigation and for charges against the officer found responsible for the slaying 
Police in Tacoma said the father to a son, 11, and 18-month-old daughter was harassing a woman by banging on her car window 
Two cops claim Ellis repeated banged on their patrol car so they called back up
Officers claim Ellis slammed one of them to the ground so they restrained him
None of the officers was were not wearing body cameras but there is footage
Tacoma police confirmed that the four officers involved in restraining Ellis – Christopher Burbank, 34, and Mathew Collins, 37, both white, Masyih Ford, 28, who is black and Timothy Rankine, 31, who is Asian are now on administrative leave
ME ruled death to be homicide on May 11. It’s unclear why it was only announced on June 3 
Before the decision to fire them,  the four officers initially were placed on paid leave, then returned to the force, and were placed on leave again on Wednesday
Manuel Ellis 5Manuel Ellis, [photo], yelled ‘I can’t breathe’ as Tacoma PD officers restrained him on the ground while he was handcuffed on March 3. Cops said he was harassing women in on the street when they approached him and that he banged on their car and slammed an officer to the ground


Police audio captures Manuel Ellis saying ‘I can’t breathe’

Victoria Wooodards 1Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards  [photo], announced Thursday that she wants to fire the police officers involved in the fatal police arrest of Manuel Ellis fired after a witness video emerged showing the 33-year-old black man being aggressively beaten and restrained

Ellis was heard as he yelled ‘I can’t breathe’ while handcuffed and restrained by cops.
The arresting officers Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins, Masyih Ford and Timothy Rankine, who are now on administrative leave, said they intervened when they saw Ellis harassing a woman by banging on her car window.
According to police, Ellis started hitting their patrol car and asking to speak them about outstanding warrants against him.
Cops say he then picked up one of the officers by the vest and threw him on the ground.
They then tried to restrain him when he got combative on the floor, shortly before he died. It is unclear how he was restrained, and how long he was restrained for before he died, cops claimed.
On Wednesday, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Ellis died of respiratory arrest due to hypoxia due to physical restraint. Death was rued a homicide.

The four officers were initially placed on paid leave, returned to the force, then placed on administrative leave again Wednesday after the homicide ruling.
The ruling of death by Hypoxia meaning the victim could not get enough oxygen to reach the lungs is at odds with the cops initially said, that they believed Ellis died from excited delirium which can result in overwhelming strength, an overheated body and attempts at violence.

Masyih Ford (left) and Timothy Rankine (right) 1Masyih Ford (left) and Timothy Rankine (right), are two of the four officers involved. They were not wearing body cameras but there is footage of the incident that has been submitted.


The findings came back on May 11. It’s unclear why they were not announced until June 3.
The full details of how he was restrained are currently not available but a police have denied officers used a knee to the neck or a choke hold while arresting Ellis.