A woman who witnessed the arrest of Manuel Ellis, a black man in Tacoma, Wash., called on the police to “stop hitting him” after they wrestled Mr. Ellis to the ground,
Mr. Ellis died in the minutes following his arrest in March after pleading, “I can’t breathe” — an eerie echo of some of the final words from other black men who have died in police custody, including Eric Garner and George Floyd.
The woman captured video clips showing brief portions of the arrest of Mr. Ellis, 33, including punches that officers threw while he was on the ground. She was in her car and had pulled up right behind the police vehicle on the southern edge of Tacoma late on the night of March 3.
After the videos were posted online, Tacoma’s mayor, Victoria Woodards, released a video message late Wednesday night saying she was enraged by what she saw and was directing the city manager to fire each officer involved.
“The officers who committed this crime should be fired and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Ms. Woodards said.
The first video captured by the witness begins in the middle of the encounter, showing both officers standing, right as they took Mr. Ellis to the ground on the road in front of some garbage cans. With Mr. Ellis on his back, one of the officers got down on his knees and began punching Mr. Ellis.
“Stop. Oh my god, stop hitting him. Just arrest him,” the witness called out in the video.
In a later clip, as she drove past the scene, video showed the officers asking Mr. Ellis to put his hands behind his back. The officers appeared to have Mr. Ellis subdued and on his side.