Washington state legislators are anticipated Monday to review a proposal that seeks to ban the practice of hog-tying suspects by law enforcement.
This comes almost four years after the death of Manuel Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, who was killed while restrained face down with his hands and feet cuffed together.
Bill on Prohibiting The Use of Hog-Tying After Manuel Ellis' Death
House Bill 2414, aimed at prohibiting the use of hog-tying in use-of-force policies, has progressed through different stages in the 2024 regular session. The bill was prefiled on January 5, and it had its first reading on January 8 before being referred to the Law & Justice committee.
A public hearing in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice is scheduled for January 22, followed by an executive session on January 25.
Democratic Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, a bill sponsor, highlighted her goal of preventing others from experiencing the "dehumanization" Ellis faced before his death.
"How do we move through the need for folks to enforce the laws, but do it in a way where they're treating people the way we expect, which is as human beings?" Trudeau said.
The bill was prompted by the tragic death of Ellis in March 2020.
Ellis was walking home when approached by Tacoma police officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank. The officers claimed Ellis tried to enter a stranger's car and attacked them when confronted in the city, located approximately 30 miles south of Seattle.
Witnesses observed the officers knocking Ellis to the ground, shocking and beating him. Subsequently, the officers applied a hobble restraint device to his legs, linking it to his handcuffs behind his back while he remained in a prone position, as reported by The Independent.
Following the application of the hobble, Ellis ceased moving, according to a probable cause statement from the Washington attorney general's office. A medical examiner determined that his death was a homicide resulting from oxygen deprivation.
Officers Collins and Burbank faced charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter, while Timothy Rankine faced a manslaughter charge.
The defense argued that Manuel Ellis's death resulted from a lethal amount of methamphetamine in his system and a preexisting heart condition, rather than the officers' actions.
In December last year, the jury ultimately acquitted all three on all counts
What is the Hog-Tying Technique?
The practice of hog-tying has been a widely accepted means of restraining unruly behavior, but it is recommended to discontinue its use, according to the United States (US) Department of Justice-Office of Justice Programs.
The actual extent of deaths in custody due to positional asphyxia, commonly known as suffocation, from hog-tying, is unclear, as reported information is largely anecdotal, as per the department.
Since at least 1995, the U.S. Department of Justice has advised against the practice of mitigating the risk of deaths occurring in custody. However, despite facing bans in numerous cities and counties over persistent suffocation concerns, the restraint technique persists in use in other regions.
