A former Tacoma police officer acquitted of charges stemming from the March 2020 in-custody death of Manuel Ellis has filed a $47 million claim against the City of Tacoma, alleging defamation and racial discrimination.
Timothy Rankine alleges that since June 2020, he has suffered from “politically motivated, false accusations of racial bias policing and criminal misconduct,” according to his claim. The City of Tacoma said it does not comment on pending litigation, King 5 reports.
After a jury deliberated for two-and-a-half days in December 2023, Rankine was found not guilty of first-degree manslaughter. Two other former Tacoma officers, Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, were also acquitted on murder and manslaughter charges.
All three former officers voluntarily resigned from the Tacoma Police Department after the trial, receiving $500,000 each and "in good standing," KING 5 previously reported.
Rankine alleges elected officials and employees made statements to the public “wrongfully and falsely accusing me of criminal misconduct," which destroyed his reputation and ruined his ability to work in the past and in the future, according to his claim.
