Black man was not a threat to Tacoma police charged in his restraint death, eyewitness says at trial

Brian Hayes / The News Tribune

Eyewitness testimony Tuesday in the continuing trial three police officers, who are white and Asian American, charged with the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man, starkly contradicted the picture the officers’ lawyers painted.

Keyon Lowery, 26, told the jury in Pierce County Superior Court that Ellis didn't act aggressively toward the Tacoma, Washington, police officers nor did he fight back, and that he was “no threat at all, none.”