Three Washington state police officers who were acquitted of criminal charges in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who died in police custody after pleading that he could not breathe, have resigned from the Tacoma Police Department. According to documents released by the city on Tuesday, the officers, Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins, and Timothy Rankine, will each receive $500,000 as part of their resignation agreements. The decision to award the officers such a substantial sum has sparked outrage and criticism.

The acquittal of the officers came after a trial that lasted over two months and resulted in a jury finding them not guilty of charges including manslaughter and second-degree murder. Ellis, 33, was walking home with doughnuts from a 7-Eleven when he encountered the officers at an intersection in Tacoma. The officers claimed that Ellis became aggressive when they tried to question him about allegedly trying to open car doors. However, witnesses and a doorbell surveillance camera captured parts of the encounter, showing Ellis with his hands up in a surrender position before being shot with a Taser and restrained by the officers.

The release of the resignation agreements and the news of the officers' departure from the police department came after the U.S. Attorney's office opened an independent review of the case. The city of Tacoma also announced that an internal investigation found that none of the officers violated the use-of-force policy in effect at the time of Ellis' death. However, Police Chief Avery Moore acknowledged that the policy "failed to serve the best interests of the police department or the community" and has since been revised.

The decision to award the officers a significant sum of money has drawn criticism from the community and Ellis' family. Matthew Ericksen, an attorney for Ellis' family, called it “perverse” and accused the officers of being "effectively being rewarded" for his death. The family had previously settled a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Pierce County, where Tacoma is located, for $4 million.

Ellis' death and the subsequent trial became a focal point for racial justice demonstrators in the Pacific Northwest. However, it did not receive the same level of national attention as the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which occurred three months later. The trial was the first under a state law designed to make it easier to prosecute police officers accused of wrongfully using deadly force.

The resignation of the three officers and the controversy surrounding their departure highlight the ongoing tensions between law enforcement and communities of color. The case has once again ignited debates about police accountability and the need for comprehensive police reform to address systemic issues.