TACOMA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – One of the police officers cleared of criminal charges in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis has filed multimillion-dollar claims against local and state officials alleging defamation.

Former Tacoma police officer Timothy Rankine alleges that he was falsely accused of criminal and racist misconduct and is seeking $47 million in damages. Rankine was acquitted of manslaughter but said in the claims filed with the city of Tacoma and the state Attorney General’s Office that his reputation has been destroyed.

Rankine claims that AG Bob Ferguson and his staff, as well as elected officials in Tacoma, defamed him by falsely accusing him of criminal misconduct and that those accusations were politically motivated.

Rankine and his co-defendants each received $500,000 to leave the Tacoma Police Department earlier this year.

Joan Mell, an attorney for Rankine, says that he wants to return to law enforcement but feels he has been blackballed. Rankine and two other officers were cleared of criminal charges by a Pierce County jury last December.

Attorneys for the three had argued that Ellis died from a lethal amount of methamphetamine as well as a heart condition, not from the actions of the officer.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide and said it was caused by a lack of oxygen during the physical restraint.