Skip to main content
Press Release

Statement on civil rights review of death of Manuel Ellis

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington

A team of experienced federal prosecutors conducted an independent and comprehensive review of the record in the criminal jury trial of State of Washington v. Tacoma Police Department Officers Burbank, Collins, and Rankine, concerning Manuel Ellis’s death on March 3, 2020. The review focused on the application of 18 U.S.C. § 242, a federal criminal civil rights statute that prohibits certain types of official misconduct. After a careful and thorough review, the Department of Justice has closed its inquiry.

Contact

Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Communications Director Emily Langlie Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov. 

Updated August 14, 2025
Topic
Civil Rights
Component
USAO - Washington, Western

Related Content

Press Release
Auburn, Washington, man sentenced to more than four years in prison for racially motivated attack on Metro bus passenger

Seattle – A 25-year-old Auburn, Washington, man was sentenced today for a federal hate crime for violently assaulting and stabbing a Black female passenger because of her race, announced First Assistant...

Press Release
U.S. Attorney’s Office and 24-Hour Fitness resolve allegations it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Seattle – The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington and 24-Hour Fitness, a nine-state exercise facility business, this week resolved allegations it failed to comply with the Americans with...

Press Release
Everett, Washington man who used a pipe bomb to blow up Black couple’s car sentenced to five years in prison

Seattle –A 55-year-old Everett, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison for three federal felonies including a pipe bomb explosion that...