Open season on cops in the Kingdom of Chaz may finally be over. A Tacoma, Wash., police officer accused of recklessly killing a black suspect in 2020 has begun the process of suing every governmental agency that depicted him as a racist killer. He’s put the city and state on notice that he and his wife will sue for $94 million for ruining and endangering their lives.
The case against Officer Timothy Rankine, who is Asian, and two other officers was framed as George Floyd 2.0.
After being cleared by a local investigation, Governor Jay Inslee ordered his right-hand woke attorney general to take over the prosecution of the officers.
Rankine claims that Ferguson and his “politically motivated” team of prosecutors set out to systematically defame, destroy, and prosecute the cops who confronted Manuel “Manny” Ellis on that March night in 2020. Ellis had snuck away from his halfway house, where he’d been trying to kick his drug habit, but got some donuts and a fatal dose of meth and was out-of-his-mind high when he confronted cops in Tacoma. They subdued him. His heart gave out in the struggle.
The local mayor called for the immediate firing of the officers. The local version of Benjamin Crump got a $27 million wrongful death settlement for the family before evidence was ever heard at trial.
Absolutely.
Hell yes. @AGOWA Bob Ferguson’s fingerprints are all over this farce of a case.
Make him pay, officer. https://t.co/8CQabuqXno
— Victoria Taft, The Adult in the Room, FITF Squad (@VictoriaTaft) May 22, 2024
In the trial, there was a featured liar with an edited cell video who was put on the stand. State prosecutors, with dreams of a Minneapolis redux in their heads, prepared to nail the cops to the cross.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the big house: In December 2023, after a four-week trial, a Tacoma jury found all officers not guilty.
There was a lot riding on this verdict, as I wrote last December in a piece called, “Politicians Grumble After Three Cops in Wash. State George Floyd 2.0 Case Are Completely Exonerated:
More than one political career was riding on the cops being found guilty of killing Ellis. The mayor called for the officers to be fired on the spot. A community leader demanded the cops be prosecuted. She used the incident to win election to the city council. And, after the Pierce County district attorney failed to bring charges against the cops, Democrat Governor Jay Inslee ordered the state attorney general to take over the case. Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who’s running for governor, threw the book at three of the officers on scene that night. Two of the officers involved in the takedown of Ellis, Officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, were charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, and Officer Timothy Rankine was charged with first-degree manslaughter. State attorneys gave jurors a menu of lesser and included charges on which to find the officers guilty. The seven-man, five-woman “diverse” jury cleared the officers of all charges.
Now, Rankine has filed tort claims with the State Office of Risk Management and the city of Tacoma, which are necessary precursors to filing a lawsuit. The documents were delivered at the end of April, and Rankine can file his lawsuit in 60 days.
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Officers involved in the Ellis case have been unable to get law enforcement jobs in Washington, though officers are in short supply after the 2020 George Floyd riots and the state’s mandated COVID shots—all of which were encouraged and condoned by the Inslee and Ferguson regime. Criminal-friendly AG Bob Ferguson is now running to replace Inslee as a tough-on-crime candidate.
In the tort claim, Rankine’s wife, Katherine Chinn, said that Ferguson and his staff “incited ‘racially motivated hatred‘ toward her husband and his work as a law enforcement officer, disrupting their marriage and their ability to live without fear of retaliation. She made similar allegations against the City of Tacoma,” the Tacoma News Tribune reported.
“Rankine’s tort claim alleged that the state and city officials incited ‘hatred, threats, and violence against me and my family,'” the News Tribune reported. Their attorney says the family is hiding out, likely in another state.
Another officer exonerated in the Ellis incident, Christopher Burbank, was recently hired at a nearby sheriff’s department. However, the sheriff buckled under the pressure of the mob, and Burbank left.
Yes, maybe there will be more lawsuits.
Speaking of which, has anyone seen Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson, Mo., Police Department lately?