The Washington State Senate unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that would ban police from tying suspects, a restraint method that has long been a concern due to the risk of suffocation.
The bill was enacted nearly four years after Manuel Ellis, a 33-year-old black man, died with his hands and feet tied behind his back and face down in Tacoma, about 30 miles south of Seattle. The incident became a touchstone for racial justice demonstrators in the Pacific Northwest.
Washington state to consider banning shackles after Manuel Ellis’ death
“He was loved, he was part of someone’s family,” Democratic Sen. Yasmine Trudeau, the bill’s sponsor, said during the Senate vote. “And I don’t think any of us in the room would want our families to spend their final moments of life in such an inhumane manner.”
Many cities and counties have banned the practice, while others still use it. The U.S. Department of Justice has recommended banning this practice since at least 1995 to avoid deaths in custody.
Aerial view of the Washington State Capitol in Olympia, Washington. (David Ryder/Getty Images)
Democratic state Sen. John Robick, who worked as a state trooper for more than 30 years, shared his experience with this restraint method.
“I’ve lived with the shame of seeing people tied up, and it’s a shame to have to live with that,” said Robik, who co-sponsored the bill with Trudeau. “We know better now, and it’s time to stop using this inhumane method.”
The attorney general’s office in Washington recommended against the use of pig ties in its 2022 model use-of-force policy. At least four local agencies continue to allow pig tying, according to policies filed with the Attorney General’s Office that year.
In March 2020, Ellis was walking home when he and two white Tacoma police officers, Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank, passed a patrol car. There are conflicting accounts of what happened next, but according to a probable cause statement filed by the Washington Attorney General’s Office, Ellis ended up being shocked and beaten, and the officers left him in a limp restraint. They wrapped the device around his legs and handcuffed him behind his back.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide due to lack of oxygen. Collins, Burbank, and third officer Timothy Rankin were charged with murder or manslaughter. A jury returned a not guilty verdict in December after defense attorneys argued that Ellis’ death was caused by methamphetamine intoxication and heart disease.
