In Tacoma, Washington, a jury acquitted three police officers in the 2020 killing of 33-year-old Manuel Ellis, an unarmed Black man. The officers violently arrested and beat Ellis on the side of the road; he died while in handcuffs and telling officers “I can’t breathe.” The Pierce County medical examiner ruled the cause of death was homicide from oxygen deprivation “due to physical restraint.” Following the verdict Thursday, community members took to the streets to demand justice for Manuel Ellis. This is organizer and incoming City Councilmember Jamika Scott.

Jamika Scott: “We’re not going to sit here and cry. We’re not going to pout. We’re not going to let a 'not guilty' verdict in a kangaroo court deter us from what we know to be righteous, to be true.”