Category Archives: BIPOC

BIPOC, National

Driver who killed 1, wounded 3, in Minneapolis car attack identified as Nicholas Kraus

[MINNEAPOLIS] – (MTN) Nicholas Kraus, 35, of St. Paul, Minnesota, was being held without bail for investigation of vehicular homicide after driving his car at a high rate of speed through a protest gathering and striking at least 3 additional people. More questions than answers exist less than a day later as Kraus had a warrant out for his arrest and had his driver’s license suspended for being “a hazard to public safety.”

During the evening of June 13, protesters had gathered to honor Winston Smith, 32, who was killed by U.S. Marshalls attempting to serve a warrant. The shooting death of Smith has enraged the community, with witnesses stating Winston was unarmed and no bodycam video taken during the arrest attempt.

Cars were used to create a barrier between traffic and the protesters. Kraus is accused of driving at a high rate of speed and accelerating into the crowd driving an SUV. Kraus was estimated to be driving 70 to 80 MPH as he tore through the group playing a game of red light, green light.

He drove through one barrier before striking a vehicle in the car barricade. The vehicle was hit so hard that it was thrown into bystanders, throwing Deona Marie Erickson through the air and striking at least 3 more people, including an independent journalist who suffered a broken leg. Volunteer medics started CPR on Erickson immediately and were able to get a pulse back, but she was declared dead upon her arrival at an area hospital. Kraus’ SUV came to rest against a pole, and he attempted to flee the scene but was detained by protesters.

Kraus is a convicted felon with a criminal record spanning 17 years and 18 criminal cases. He has five convictions for DUI, including twice in 2007, once in 2009, 2012, and 2016. He had a 2013 DUI dismissed in a plea deal. He was also convicted of fifth-degree assault in 2004, falsely reporting a crime in 2006, and obstruction of justice in 2015. In the 2015 case, he was accused of attempting to smother his girlfriend and trying to throw her over the top railing of a balcony. Those charges were later dropped in a plea deal. The woman involved is the mother of his two children.

Kraus was arrested and convicted in 2020 for giving a false name to the police. In that case, he was sentenced to 45 days in jail and got time served for 43 of those days. That arrest and conviction caused a violation of his 2016 parole conditions and triggered a warrant for his arrest.

Kraus’ social media footprint is mostly innocuous, with many public posts from 2017 to 2018. In his posts, he frequently expressed that he was a victim of other people holding him back and not forgiving him for his mistakes.

Although he did not express any political ideology in his posting, he wrote Greg Laurie was his favorite pastor. Pastor Laurie formed Harvest Christian Fellowship, the eighth largest megachurch in the United States. He serves on the board of directors of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, headed by Franklin Graham, an outspoken champion of Donald Trump and critic of Black Lives Matter. Laurie also served as one of the pastors for Donald Trumps’ 2017 inauguration.

Facebook post of Nicholas Kraus expressing his admiration for megachurch pastor Greg Laurie

However, Laurie has spoken out against historic racism in the Christian religion and aligned his megachurch with the Southern Baptist Church in 2017. In July 2020, he said, “Our country is in turmoil right now because of the tragic killing — and I would classify it as a murder — of George Floyd. This man had a knee of a police officer on his neck. He wasn’t able to breathe. He said repeatedly, “I can’t breathe,” and even called out, “Mama,” which is just so heartbreaking to watch this. It’s really opened up an important national conversation, and also there’s a lot of conflict on our streets right now. I want you to know, I can only speak for myself and maybe my family, but we’re listening. We’re wanting to understand. We’re wanting to learn. We don’t know what it’s like to walk in the shoes of an African American person.”

Untrue rumors were swirling on social media that Deona Marie Erickson is Kraus’ children’s mother. According to family members, Erickson had no relationship or contact with Kraus in the past.

Many posts on Nicholas Kraus’ Facebook page expressed he felt like a victim of other people holding him back.

Kraus is being held in Hennepin County Jail, awaiting a bond hearing and arraignment. Authorities had not stated a motivation if Kraus was impaired when he was arrested or indicated if this is being investigated as a hate crime. Hennepin County has been a national flashpoint since 2016 when officer Jeronimo Yanez shot and killed Philando Castile. Yanez was acquitted for wrongdoing after a criminal trial and 5 days of deliberations.

George Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, in an incident recorded and shared on social media. Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder and two other charges and will be sentenced on June 25, 2021. On April 11, 2021, 26-year police veteran and training officer Kim Potter shot and killed Daunte Wright, 20, during a routine traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Potter claims she mistakenly grabbed her service-issued firearm instead of a Taser. Potter was arraigned on second-degree manslaughter charges in the same courthouse conducting the Derek Chauvin trial.

The June 4, 2021, shooting of Winston Smith has exacerbated the tense situation in Minneapolis, further divided the public trust from law enforcement. Both Anoka and Hennepin County Sheriff’s have stated their departments will no longer participate in federal raids due to the lack of transparency in the death of Smith.

The national discord on using vehicles to commit violence has sunk to new lows since 32-year old Heather Heyer was murdered in 2017 by 20-year-old James Alex Fields. Fields drove his Dodge Challenger through an anti-white supremacy counter-protester in Charlottesville, Virginia. Since May of 2020, dozens of car attacks were recorded across the nation. In Seattle, Summer Taylor died and Diaz Love was gravely injured on July 4, 2020, in a car attack on a closed interstate. Dawit Kelete was stopped by protesters in that incident and is still awaiting trial.

In a September 2020 USA Today story, researchers indicated there had been 104 documented car attacks at Black Lives Matter protests, including 8 involving police officers. Of the 104 incidents recorded, charges were filed against 39 drivers. Several of those cases have already gone to trial with a range of findings.

A number of states have passed Republican-led initiatives providing drivers with legal justification to drive through protesters. Minnesota does not have any such law passed.

BIPOC, Local, Splendid Saturday

Man sees a stranger on his Ring camera and asked for help IDing the person

[WOODINVILLE] – (MTN) A moment of distraction for a Woodinville man turned into a lost wallet at a local AM/PM store, but his faith in humanity was left a bit stronger when he checked his Ring doorbell camera later the same day. The Woodinville man posted in a community group a picture of a man, holding up what appears to be a wallet and pulling his mask down to make his face visible.

“I don’t know if anyone on here recognizes this guy but today he restored my faith in humanity,” the post started.

Larry Lovato was the man in that picture, and Lovato had found the wallet. Lovato looked around for a potential owner to no avail, and looking for an ID, noticed the wallet had a conceal carry permit and many credit cards. Taking matters into his own hands, Lovato dropped it off at the address listed on the ID.

The owner of wallet, who asked not to named, was left happily surprised and posted about it. “If you see this, huge thanks stranger. The world needs more people like you.”

Within minutes of the original post on Facebook, Juanita Lovato posted that the man in the photograph was their father. Juanita Lovato had this to say about their dad, “I feel that’s why I’m so blessed to have him as my dad, father, [and] best friend. He still sets good examples for me and teaches me to never to stop trying to do good.”

BIPOC, Local, National

Woman cited with four crimes for daytime vandalism of York statue in Portland

Video

[PORTLAND] – (MTN) Jeannette K Grode, 43 years old, vandalized a statue of the Lewis & Clark expedition slave York and now faces a litany of criminal charges for her actions. On June 8, Grode berated witnesses and covered the Mount Tabor Park monument in purple spraypaint while taunting people to have her arrested and claiming she was racist.

The Portland Police Bureau reported on June 10 that Grode now faces four criminal charges. Criminal Mischief II is the most serious charge, a Class A Misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail and a $6,250 fine. She was also charged with Abuse of Venerated Objects, Unlawful Applying of Graffiti, and Vandalism of Protected Park Property and Vegetation. She was issued citations instead of arrest due to ongoing COVID restrictions limiting bookings.

https://malcontentment.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/York-Statue-Defaced.mp4
Jeannette K Grode, 43 years old, allegedly vandalizes the statue of york at mount tabor park in portland, oregon

Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery traveled from St. Louis, Missouri, to modern-day Fort Clatsop, south of Astoria, Oregon. Among them was a slave by the name of York, who William Clark owned. York became the first African to cross North America and reach the Pacific Coast in known history.

Upon their return, York is said to have asked for his freedom which Clark denied. The historical record of what happened to York after the Corps of Discovery is unclear. Still, many believe he was either sold to a new slaveholder or was granted by Clark to move to Kentucky to be closer to his wife. It is believed he died of cholera.

The monument didn’t always have a bust of York. In 1933 a statue of Harvey W. Scott, the editor-in-chief of The Oregonian and later a principal shareholder, was erected at the summit of Mount Tabor. Scott was venerated after his untimely death in 1910. However, his legacy was already being called into question when his statue was erected 23 years later.

Scott fought in a volunteer militia in the Oregon Territory from 1855 to 1856 against the Nisqually, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, and Klickitat first nations. He supported the Union and the new Republican Party editorially during the Civil War while being an outspoken critic of women’s suffrage and public education. On October 20, 2020, his statue was toppled, and in February 2021, replaced by a bust of York by unknown parties.

There are no known drawings or artwork of York, so the bust on Mount Tabor is a representation. The statue was previously vandalized in March 2021, less than a month after its installation.

A court date for Grode has not been set.

BIPOC, Local

Dozens gather in Auburn to remember Jesse Sarey

Gallery

[AUBURN] – (MTN) Family, friends, activists, politicians, and community leaders gathered in the parking lot where Jesse Sarey was shot by Auburn police officer Jeff Nelson two years ago to hold a candlelight vigil. Sarey was gunned down by officer Nelson on May 31, 2019, in an interaction that ended with Sarey dead of two gunshot wounds. Nelson was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the shooting and is the first officer to be charged under Washington’s I-940.

Elaine Simons, Sarey’s foster mother, has become an outspoken champion of his cause and the public face for the Sarey family. Other families who have experienced police violence were on hand to stand in support and tell their stories of loved ones lost.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”51″ gal_title=”Jesse Sarey Vigil 2021″]

Friends and family did a balloon release after a four-second pause, to remember the four seconds it took between Nelson’s first shot and his third.

On May 31, 2019, officer Nelson responded to a call about Sarey, who was homeless and struggled with mental illness. When Nelson arrived Sarey was calm, sitting on a curb and chewing on ice cubes. Nelson attempted to take Sarey into custody and a short struggle ensued. Nelson fired one shot which struck Sarey in the chest and was fatal. When he went to fire his second shot his service weapon jammed, forcing Nelson to clear the round and fire a third shot in the head.

Nelson had been with the Auburn Police Department for 11 years, serving as a K9 officer. During his tenure, he was involved in 3 fatal officer shootings, including Sarey. In 2017, Isaiah Obet was shot and killed by Nelson with the same chest and head combination. The city of 85,000 paid a $1.25 million settlement to Obet’s family 4 days after Nelson was arraigned on criminal charges in the Sarey case.

Nelson’s next hearing is on June 3 and his trial is scheduled to start in October 2021.

BIPOC, Editorial, Local, National

One year later, what has changed after Black Lives Matter protests swept Seattle

Video 1 Comment

[SEATTLE] – (MTN) A year has passed since George Floyd protests ended in clouds of teargas, police cruisers set on fire, and downtown stores looted. Caught in the crossfire were thousands of peaceful protesters who were out to show solidarity with the family of George Floyd. Protests erupted across the United States after 8 minutes and 46 seconds of a video showed George Floyd under the knee of Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd would die, Chauvin was convicted for his murder, and the nation was forced into a racial reckoning.

In the year that has followed, the city of Seattle watched as Carmen Best resigned as Chief of Police and 200 officers left the force due to efforts to defund and improve oversight. Mayor Jenny Durkan did not seek reelection among growing calls for her resignation. Over 285 protesters were arrested during months of unrest, and many have ultimately never been charged by prosecutors. King County Executive Dow Constantine announced the construction of a new youth jail would stop.

recap of events in Seattle on may 30, 2020 from malcontent news

Aubreanna Inda was shot at near point-blank range by a stun grenade on June 7 had her heart stop three times at Harborview Medical Center. Diaz Love and Summer Taylor were struck by an SUV driven by Dawit Kelete on July 4, killing Taylor and gravely injuring Love. Kelete is awaiting trial on multiple charges.

The protesters had five demands in the summer of 2020, and many questions remain unanswered a year later.

Defund SPD how much? Fifty percent, at least.

The first demand of protesters was to defund the Seattle Police Department by at least 50%. While the term “defund” creates an image of half the police force being removed, advocates for defunding don’t have that expectation.

In Seattle, only 1.3% of 911 calls are for violent or major crimes. The remaining 98.7% are for property crimes, auto accidents, or petty situations such as neighbors arguing over parking spots. Despite this disparity, equally armed officers go to these calls, and 40% of sworn officers in Seattle received at least one complaint to the OPA in 2020, resulting in 145 open cases.

The Seattle Police Department was defunded just under 18% in November 2020 after political theater. The city council approved an earlier budget that called for defunding in August 2020 that Mayor Durkan vetoed – a veto overridden by the council.

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best resigned, stating that she didn’t want to fire officers as part of budget cuts. Adrian Diaz was named Acting Chief and remains in charge today. 

Before June 2020, the Seattle Police Department was already losing officers. Since January 2020, 260 cops have resigned or gone on extended leave. The force has a budget to support up to 1,325 officers, and currently, 1,080 patrols the streets. Compared to other similar-sized west coast cities, even at 1,080 officers, staffing is at a comparable level.

As protests evolved through the fall of 2020, more demanded the abolishment of SPD. Abolishment falls into two camps – the ending of the Seattle Police Department as it is known today and a total replacement with a much smaller force focusing on community support. Others view abolishment as the ending of the police, courts, and prisons. For the most radical, when asked what would happen to those accused of violent crimes such as rape or murder, some say they support summary execution.

Where should that money go? To Black communities.

The budget cuts of approximately $80 million were partially created by moving numbers on balance sheets with certain functions removed from the department but still fully funded.

Budget Chair Teresa Mosqueda called in a win stating, “This council has stepped up in the midst of a historic crisis.” Other members of the City Council were critical for various reasons.

Of the $80 million in cuts, $12 million went to a “people’s fund” where the citizens of Seattle would have a voice on how to spend the money. The city had touted a $100 million investment program to support BIPOC peoples and communities before last year’s protests, but the city didn’t spend a single penny. That money sat trapped in review processes and red tape, with applicants advised to submit proposals subject to review and studies. The new “people’s fund” is the 2021 budget totals $35 million.

Seattle Fire Department now has two units called Health One. Health One responds to mental health calls and provides an alternative to police response. Health One mirrors programs like STAR in Denver, Colorado, which started earlier in 2020. Six months after implementing STAR in Denver, the responding units have never had to request police intervention. 

What should the city do? Free all the protesters.

Over 285 people were arrested during protest actions in the summer of 2020 for a range of crimes from pedestrian obstruction to arson and first-degree assault. According to the City Attorney’s Office, most of those arrested have not been criminally charged and likely never will be.

City Attorney’s and the Seattle Police Department got into frequent, and at times public, war of words over the handling of arrests. Seattle Police complained that protesters were being caught and released. In contrast, city prosecutors complained that SPD was not doing the necessary work to provide evidence to support arrests. 

Of the most serious arrests and criminal charges, many were not from Seattle. Some had only recently moved into the area.

Jacob D. Little of Everett was arrested for stealing firearms from the Seattle Police Department on May 30, including silencers and an M4 assault rifle. The weapons have not been recovered. Little was later charged with an unrelated shooting of a 15-year old in Renton.

Margaret Aislinn Channon was a woman from Texas who had been reported missing and had recently started living in Tacoma. She was arrested for her role in setting Seattle Police cruisers on fire along 6th Avenue on May 30.

Thomas Kelly Jackson of Edmonds, Washington, was arrested for arson. In that case, police used his cell phone records and surveillance video to place him at the scene.

Marcel Levon Long was identified as the person who shot and killed Lorenzo Anderson on June 20, 2020, on the edge of CHOP, the Capitol Hill Organized Protest. The shooting was determined to be gang-related and not involving protesters. Anderson’s family is suing the city in federal court for negligence and violating Anderson’s rights in his death. That lawsuit blew the lid off of a simmering scandal in City Hall, revealing months of texts have disappeared from Mayor Jenny Durkan, former Police Chief Carmen Best, and current Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins. 

However, for every Little, Channon, Jackson, and Long, dozens were arrested for obstruction, trespass, and traffic violations. In other cases, suspects for the most severe crimes have never been identified.

In a gun battle, Antonio Mays Jr., 16, died in the early morning hours of June 29 in CHOP. Mays Jr. and an unnamed 14-year-old drove through street barricades and rammed the concrete blocks outside the East Precinct building in a stolen Jeep. A suspect has not been named in that case.

What do want for number four? No new youth jail.

King County had argued for a new youth jail facility for years. The current building in the Central District is crumbling with sanitary, heating, and water issues. In 2012 a levy measure was passed and was met with outrage by activists who sued the city in 2016, saying the ballot language was misleading.

In the nine years that have passed, public sentiment on youth incarceration and heightened awareness of the school-to-prison pipeline has shifted public opinion on the imprisonment of children. For a growing list of industrialized nations, the practice is no longer acceptable.

On July 24, 2020, King County Executive Dow Constantine vowed to end the incarceration of children at the Children and Family Justice Center by 2025. For protesters, the view is the demand has not been met, and they seek an immediate shutdown. The center is currently housing less than 40 people.

Don’t forget number five. Jenny Durkan to resign.

A year later, Mayor Jenny Durkan’s June 12 comment on CNN about “the summer of love” appears cavalier and cynical. 

By September of 2020, Ted Wheeler of Portland, Oregon, and Durkan of Seattle was in an unofficial competition of the least liked mayors in the United States. For Mayor Durkan, her allies were dwindling on all sides. Conservatives felt she was too soft on protesters, should have never allowed the creation of CHOP, and directly blamed her for the evacuation of the East Precinct. The business community felt abandoned by the city between protests, COVID restrictions, and a culture war with their customers over the support of the police. Liberals viewed her as being heavy-handed, ordering the teargassing and beatings of mostly peaceful protesters. They were frustrated with broken promises on concessions and offers of cooperation. Moderates who supporter her based on her prior federal experience found her response to 2020 incompetent.

By the late fall, a growing chorus of city groups and members of the city government were calling for Durkan’s resignation. On December 7, 2020, she announced she would not seek reelection. New calls for her resignation erupted in May of 2021 over her missing texts, but it appears she will ride out the final months as mayor of Seattle.

What is next

Although there have been changes, and the protesters achieved other victories beyond the five demands chanted in the streets in 2020, the foundations of Seattle’s historical past remain.

The City Council has almost no visibility into the details of the police budget, while the Seattle Police Officers Guild, the police union, enjoys one of the most one-sided contracts in the nation. 

As recently as May 29, 2021, the uneven policing in the city was on display. A small group of protesters was met with an aggressive response downtown during the day, while thousands challenged police authority on Alki Beach hours later. The Seattle Police Blotter was absent of any story about the events at Alki, which led to numerous arrests.

The foundational issues of systemic racism within Seattle and King County – zoning laws, infrastructure, schools, food and banking deserts – are entirely unchanged. In the aftermath of protests, the Seattle Office of Police Accountability has largely been impotent and incapable of enforcing police oversight by design.

At a broader level, the Washington state legislature passed several police accountability measures to provide more teeth to Washington I-940. Three Tacoma police officers were recently charged in the death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis, in a case eerily similar to George Floyd’s. Juneteenth will become a state holiday in 2022, and the Confederate monument in Lake View Cemetery was smashed on July 4, 2020.

In the end, what was accomplished a year later is entirely in the eye of the beholder.

You can watch our documentary Can You Hear Us? on our YouTube channel. Our documentary traces the events in Seattle from May 29 to July 4, 2020 that shaped the Black Lives Matter movement in the city.

BIPOC, Breaking News, Local

Seattle Police use aggressive tactics, arrest 3 during George Floyd memorial protests

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[SEATTLE] – (MTN) Seattle Police are reporting 3 arrests, and a fourth potentially unrelated arrest, in downtown Seattle today after two small groups marched on the one-year anniversary of widespread George Floyd protests. According to Seattle Police, two were arrested for pedestrian obstruction and resisting arrest, and one was arrested for pedestrian obstruction. Pedestrian obstruction is under Seattle Municipal Code and the City Attorney Office has said repeatedly they aren’t prosecuting low-level non-violent cases.

Seattle police arrest 3 during protests on may 29, 2021

Around 3:15 PM a group of approximately 40 protesters marched to City Hall from Occidental Park without incident. Just north of City Hall, another group that had assembled at Westlake and was marching south joined up. Seattle Police appeared to show bias in enforcement, making a female protester move out of the line while letting local agent provocateur and Turning Point USA evangelist Katie Daviscourt stay in the bike line. Daviscourt refused to answer questions about how she got a concussion on January 6, 2021, while in Washington D.C. with Turning Point USA, and why she posted about it on her Twitter account.

Seattle Police became increasingly aggressive, simultaneously telling people to stay out of the street and off the sidewalks, creating an untenable situation. Two were arrested at the intersection of 5th and James. One police officer appeared to have a small scrape on their elbow during the second arrest. A third arrest happened outside of the King County Courthouse. In that incident, a man on a bicycle had been riding repeatedly in the bike line of the police officers. Officers punched the man and several wrestled him to the ground.

The group marched back to Occidental Park together. There was another incident where an individual was pepper-sprayed and mutual threats were uttered, but both parties separated.

According to the Seattle Police, there was an additional arrest, “later,” in downtown of an individual possessing a fixed blade knife, which is illegal in Seattle. The post did not say if that individual was part of the protests or their alignment.

BIPOC, Breaking News, Local

BREAKING: Bail set for Tacoma police officers charged in murder of Manuel “Manny” Ellis

[TACOMA] – (MTN) Bail was set for the 3 officers who were arrested yesterday and criminally charged due to their involvement in the death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis on March 3, 2020. All three defendants pled not guilty and had bail set at $100,000 each. Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins are charged with second-degree murder and Timothy Rankine is charged with first-degree manslaughter.

Prosecutors argued for bail of $1,000,000 for all three defendants while the lawyers representing all defendants asked for personal recognizance. Additional conditions of the three officers include surrendering their passport, no contact with their co-defendants, the Ellis family, or witnesses, surrender all weapons, and travel restrictions.

It was revealed in court that Collins has since moved to Oregon, despite still drawing his salary with the Tacoma Police Department of $116,109 annually. Collins’ attorney stated he would still need to be able to travel to his job in Oregon, but it wasn’t disclosed what kind of work he is doing, or if it was in law enforcement. Collins was given permission to travel within the county of residence in Oregon and the adjoining counties, and to and from the court or to see his attorney in Washington.

Rankine’s attorney admonished the court’s bail request for $1,000,000 and called the state’s request “false information” when saying this was comparative to other charges. The attorney also argued because he was a veteran with two Purple Hearts, was “superhuman,” and only arrived as a backup officer, he should not have been charged. Rankie lives in Bothell, Washington, according to his attorney.

All three defendants were arrested yesterday after Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the charges against the trio in the death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis. The state AG stated that Collins and Burbank could face 10 to 18 years in prison while Rankine could face 6.5 to 8.5 years.

On March 3, 2020, Ellis was returning from a trip to 7-Eleven when he started speaking to officers in a city of Tacoma police cruiser. According to eyewitnesses, one of the officers violently threw open their car door, striking Ellis, who was restrained with a knee to the neck. He was tasered, hobbled, and had a spit hood placed on his head and stopped breathing shortly thereafter. Medics did CPR for 40 minutes before Ellis was declared dead. His last recorded words from a Ring security camera across the street were, “I can’t breathe, sir.”

In events eerily similar to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Pierce County Medical Examiner labeled Ellis’ death a homicide caused by hypoxia and physical restraint. Contributing factors included an enlarged heart and methamphetamine intoxication. Police investigators labeled this a case of “excited delirium,” which is not an accepted medical diagnosis by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and is not part of the DSM-V.

The case received little attention for 3 months, and under Washington I-940, the investigation was moved to the Pierce County Sheriff Department. A week before the final report was to be released, it was revealed a Pierce County Sheriff deputy participated in the restraint of Ellis, in a potential violation of I-940. After the revelation, several witnesses came forward with cellphone video of the incident that disputed Tacoma Police and Pierce County Sheriff’s depiction of the events that led to Ellis’ death.

The family of Ellis fought for a meeting with Governor Jay Inslee to have the state take over the criminal investigation. On December 31, 2020, a nearly 2,000-page report was released by the Washington State Patrol, that raised serious questions about the conduct of officers, the veracity of their reports on the incident, and their conduct toward Ellis.

A decision on the case was supposed to come by March 2021, but it was further revealed that a Washington State Patrol officer was also present during the incident with Ellis, creating a new conflict of interest. The State Police report received 2 months of further review, and the charges were announced on May 27, 2021, almost a year from the day Geroge Floyd in Minneapolis was murdered by Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of second-degree murder in that case.

All 3 defendants appeared before the court wearing Pierce County Jail jumpsuits and appeared unemotional during the hearings. It is important to note that video quality was poor, and there were significant audio issues during Burbank’s hearing and the start of Collin’s hearing. The defendants have been ordered to return to court on June 24.

To date, 4 officers in Washington state have been criminally charged under I-940. The first was former police officer Jeff Nelson of Auburn, Washington. Nelson was arraigned in August 2020 for the slaying of Jesse Sarey, who was having a mental health crisis. In that case, Nelson was permitted to appear before the court on a summons and King County prosecutors asked for no bail. The judge set bail at $500,000 after an impassioned plea by Sarey’s foster mother, Elaine Simons. Nelson is still awaiting trial in that case and continues to draw his salary with the Auburn Police Department.

BIPOC, Local

Three Tacoma police officers face criminal charges after the in-custody death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis

[OLYMPIA] – (MTN) On March 3, 2020, Manny Ellis’ last words of, “I can’t breathe, sir,” were caught on a Ring security camera as Tacoma Police and a Pierce County Sheriff tasered, hobbled, and put a spit mask over his head. After 14 months of investigation, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced through a press release that three Tacoma police officers will face felony charges.

Four Tacoma police officers were placed on leave two months after Ellis’ death and days after social justice protests erupted across the United States from the police custody murder of George Floyd. Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins, Masyih Ford, and Timothy Rankine were put on paid leave and a fifth officer, later identified, was added. Today, Burbank and Collins were charged with second-degree murder, and Rankine was charged with first-degree manslaughter.

According to an eyewitness, Sara McDowell, Ellis approached a Tacoma Police Department vehicle and started talking to officers inside. McDowell reported that an officer suddenly opened their car door, slamming it into Ellis and tackling him to the ground. Ellis then struggled against five identified officers and an additional off-duty officer in a scene reminiscent of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Ellis became unresponsive and died minutes later. Medical personnel performed CPR for 40 minutes before he was pronounced dead.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner determined Ellis’ death was a homicide, due to “hypoxia and physical restraint” by the officers. It also indicated that contributing factors were heart disease and methamphetamine intoxication. Ellis’ family said he had struggled with mental illness for years and was working to get back on his feet at the time of his death. At the sober house he was living at, landlords and social workers had said he had been improving for months, accepting treatment for the disease, schizophrenia.

The investigation into this death has been swirled in controversy as it moved to multiple agencies. Approximately a week before Pierce County was ready to release their findings, it was revealed an off-duty Pierce County Sheriff was present during Ellis’ arrest and assisted in hobbling him. Detective Ed Troyer of the Pierce County Sheriff Department, now the embattled Sheriff of Pierce County and under criminal investigation himself, at the time expressed he did not feel this violated Washington I-940. Washington law requires independent investigations into police misconduct.

Additionally, during the investigation, Troyer stated none of the officers placed a knee on Ellis’ neck or head. Tacoma Police officers didn’t have body or dash cam during the time of the incident, but eyewitness videos dispute the claims by the sheriff.

Governor Jay Inslee moved in, and the Washington State Patrol took over the investigation. An exhaustive 2,000-page report was released on December 31, 2020, and the state AG has been reviewing the findings to consider charges. Attorney General Ferguson had initially said that a decision would be announced in March, but concerns about a potential conflict of interest within the Washington State Patrol delayed the findings.

The Tacoma Police Union issued a statement vehemently defending its officers. ” We are disappointed that facts were ignored in favor of what appears to be a politically motivated witch hunt. We look forward to the trial. An unbiased jury will find that the officers broke no laws and, in fact, acted in accordance with the law, their training, and Tacoma Police Department policies. An unbiased jury will not allow these fine public servants to be sacrificed at the altar of public sentiment.”

BIPOC, Local, National

Documentary Can You Hear Us explores the events that happened during June 2020 in Seattle

[KIRKLAND] – (MTN) A new documentary, Can You Hear Us, which explores the story behind the Black Lives Matter protests from May 30 to July 4 in Seattle, will debut on Wednesday at 8 PM at Malcontent News TV. Producers combed through more than 200 hours of video, hundreds of still images, and dozens of news reports.

“The story of CHOP is forever ingrained in Seattle history,” explained David Obelcz, the producer. “We have been waiting to release our production in the hopes a BIPOC production would be released, but we have reached the one-year anniversary of the nation learning George Floyd’s name, and we believe this is the right time for release.”

“A striking thing to me is how many people are holding up cellphones and cameras in many of the scenes. The Black Lives Matter movement is the most documented social justice effort in United States history. There are likely hundreds, if not thousands of people who have history trapped on their phones, they’ve forgotten about.”

The documentary uses local and national news coverage video to enhance the story, and fill in gaps where access was limited to the mainstream media. It also includes a number of controversial figures, but Obelcz felt it was important to tell their stories also.

“Raz Simone was accused of sexual assault in January 2021, but to tell the story of CHOP and not include him isn’t committing to telling a complete story,” said Obelcz. “Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and then President Donald Trump got into a war of words, and the politicization of what was happening is another part of the story.”

For Obelcz, the reasons for producing Can You Hear Us runs deeper than his passion for storytelling. “My daughter-in-law is Black, my grandchildren will be Black,” said Obelcz. “In 20 or 30 years, that could be my grandchild under a knee begging for their life.”

Can You Hear Us is not rated, but the producers did provide a content warning that the documentary shows scenes of protest, violence, and clips of George Floyd under the knee of convicted murderer and former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. There is one clip the producers decided not to include. “We made the decision not to include the traffic camera video of Diaz Love and Summer Taylor being struck by a car in the early hours of July 4,” Obelcz said, with a pause. “It wasn’t an easy decision, but ultimately we wanted to respect Diaz Love and the estate of Summer Taylor, and chose a different path to tell their stories.”

Can You Hear us will air tonight at 8 PM, and will be generally available for free on May 27. “I’ve always been committed to not profiting off of Black misery,” said Obelcz, “we have no interest in selling our production and have relied on community donations to financially support us.”