Another young black person dies in police custody in the US

[Floundering]

Sandra Bland, a university graduate who had just moved back to South Carolina to work in her old University.

She forgot to signal when changing lanes whilst driving her car & was pulled over. The police officer went OTT and pulled her out of the car & (it seems from heavily edited footage from the police dashcam) had to restrain her.

She was then arrested and kept in jail for a minor traffic violation, and found dead in her cell allegedly having hanged herself.

This picture is her mugshot but may have been doctored after her death

She however also was out of order. Why not just put the.cigarette out and calmly step out the car when asked. Why curse and swear at a policeman like that.

She was under no legal obligation to put the cigarette out. At the point at which the PO asked her to put the cigarette out, he was giving her the ticket and she was about to sign it. Had she signed it, that would have been the incident over.

The officer asked her why she was annoyed. She explained that he had been speeding up behind her, and so she moved lane to clear the way, and then he pulled her over, so she thought getting a ticket was unfair. He then replies "Are you done?" as if she was speaking out of turn. He then asks her if she would mind putting out the cigarette, which she didn't have to do as at that point she was not under arrest, she was in her own car and her only offence was a minor traffic violation. When she asserts her rights and mentions the law the police officer escalates the situation by telling her to get out of the car. She again asserts her rights and he threatens to haul her out of the car. He opens the door, reaches across her (presumably to undo her seat belt) and then threatens her with a taser to make her get out of the car.

She repeatedly asks why she is under arrest, and he doesn't tell her. He starts moving her about while telling her to stop moving. Then off camera she claims he has slammed her head to the ground, she can't hear or feel her arms, and she repeatedly tells him she feels he is going to break her wrist.

It is heard on the tape that when she tells him she has epilepsy he replies "Good."

The issue was not that she wasn't being compliant, the issue is that the police officer took offence at her asserting her rights. A black woman knew she was not legally obliged to put out the cigarette, and that pissed him off.

Whether the mugshot is doctored or not, the "official" one still looks odd. Look at photos of her, and then the mugshot. Why can we see up her nose. Her hair is falling back. The shadow is all wrong.

And regardless of how she died, the fact is, she should never have been in jail in the first place!

YY slice. Very well said.

I also don't get how they find weed in her body three days after the initial arrest? I know weed can sty in the body but for three days?

They said she hung herself using a bin liner.

A photo taken apparently right after the incident showed a bin, with a bin liner in it. So why was there two bin liners? Why was there a bin in the first place?

They first said it was a bed sheet then changed to bin liner.

Also she was taller than the thing they've said she hung herself from.

Shocking and terribly sad.. poor lady and her family may she rest in peace.

-the mug shot whether doctored or not shows young woman with clear assault marks to her jawline, no marks consistent with hanging.

-in the US mugshots are taken on arrival in the clothes they are in, front & side shots, why was she in prison scrubs?

-Sandra was complaining to her sister when she was allowed to call on the first day that her arm & shoulder hurt and she couldn't move them, how then did she manage to hang herself?

-the partitions in the cells are 5ft high, where she allegedly was hanging Sandra was near enough 6 ft, not impossible for suicide if determined possibly but with one arm?

• The mugshot was taken on a grey background. The walls of the rooms where they are usually done and the cell walls are beige. The cell floor is grey.

-in the pictures her hair braids are hanging backwards as you would do lying down & the shoulders squared, if standing up she would have dropped her shoulders.

I may be out of practice but to my ex nurses eye both shots show signs that she was either dead or near death, sunken cheeks, grey shadows under the eyes.

Yes maybe she was a little arsey with the officer, but IMHO she was justifiably pissed off and given the recent history of police over reaction in the US to blacks possibly bloody terrified.

US officers never know if the driver will pull a gun on them, hence they may well be a little jumpy but christ there was no need for that language or violence.

I know our police are far from perfect but they seem positively professional compared to these tossers.

They've also realised the arrest video haven't they, which was heavily edited.

There is no fathomable justification for any of the police officers actions. Please just imagine if that was you, in the UK. You have a police car behind you tailgating, the combination of those two things is likely to make anyone nervous and pull over to one side to allow them to pass and in the process perhaps forget to signal. In the UK the majority of the police wouldn't even pull you over for that!

He then immediately starts looking to pick a fight. I just can't help feeling if that was a white woman or man of the same age he would haven't acted that way. He would have given a warning or ticket and been on his way.

He then threatens her with a taser saying he is going to yank her out of her car. She is not obligated to get out of her car. And if that was me I'd also be angry and asking questions. He is trained to deal with her calmly and assertively, not like a bully with a weapon.

She then resists arrest. Damn right I would too unless you tell me what I'm being arrested for?? Something he never says or has since answered. So he manhandles her, hurts her, gets angry and maybe thinks 'shit I've gone too far' and just knows he can't let her go now.

Now this woman was clever, articulate and knew her rights. If she had been released from jail there would have been a tonne of shit heading their way. They can't do anything about that, so they edit the tapes and get rid of her.

I'm hoping that the investigation is serious and finds the right answers. This needs to be stamped out.

Has anyone seen the video of her being brought in after being arrested? Her body is completely still and lifeless. Considering how pissed she was she would definitely move. She's either dead or unconscious

She is definitely lied on the floor on that mugshot. Her hair is flowing backwards.

She has pallor, the eyes are not in a natural position.

What on earth did they do to you, you poor poor person :(

What an awful story.

Not sure if I believe that she was murdered in jail, but either way her death is at the door of a completely bigoted, racist, authoritarian and power-crazed policing system.

Anyone seen it?

I'm just watching it now

Link is here for anyone else www.khou.com/story/news/local/texas/2015/07/21/jail-video-released-from-morning-of-sandra-blands-death/30449691/

YY.

If she had just got out of the car, what was he going to do then? What purpose would that have served? He had already written the ticket, so what was left to do or say? Was he going to arrest her for not putting out the cigarette, which they both knew she wasn't required to do?

When he pulls the taser he says "I will light you up". FFS. To threaten someone in that way. It is scary to think that a person who is trained and employed to protect people can behave in this way.

This has really really got to me. That poor woman was going about her business, and she is now dead for not using her indicator.

The worst thing is that she won't be the last. This is a culture in policing in the US. Racism is still rampant. It has actually really upset me. I cannot imagine what she went through, and what her family are now going through. And for people to try to blame her, blame her behaviour, fucking hell. (Referring to the rest of the internet, not this thread.)

Oh no that's the wrong one. have you got a link fugg

It's all over FB but don't know how to link from there, I'll try again

Has anyone seen the video of her being brought in after being arrested? Her body is completely still and lifeless. Considering how pissed she was she would definitely move. She's either dead or unconscious

Do you have a link to this one? I can't find it. But I did read that there are discrepancies in the clothes and the police car, so I am not sure this video is actually her.

If you just search #Sandrabland in FB or twitter it comes up

Who the fuck does that officer think he is?

That video of her being arrested is disgusting. How dare he treat her like that. Complete abuse of power.

They hit her head in the ground. It wouldn't surprise me if she died from that injury later on.

There is a video of someone lifeless being dragged from a car (all on Twitter) but that's, supposedly, a homeless person. Doesn't make that any better, of course.

Yes it isn't Sandra, just seen. Horrible video

That isn't her. But that video is awful too. Why are human beings being treated this way?

I'm hoping that the investigation is serious and finds the right answers

Really? Personally I'm hoping the investigation finds the facts

There is also video of a New York police officer throwing a young girl (11, but she was tall and did look older) violently to the ground and handcuffing her. Why? A man had had his mobile phone taken after quarrelling with youths. Many of them and the bystanders then ran, precisely to avoid any encounter with police. The officer followed this girl to see if she had the phone.

The officer flat out lied about the incident, claiming the girl kicked him. He was caught out when a shopkeeper gave the girl's mother CCTV footage that showed the girl had not assaulted the officer. He kept his job.

You can see the footage here.

All this for a mobile phone. Which she didn't have, being an innocent onlooker.

The mugshot thing is really odd - why is the only side on one really dark and hard to make out? Well, I know why, of course if they were taken when she was dead. Really disturbing case.

I don't understand why these officers aren't getting the message from the powers that be that they can't get away with this any more?

Obviously the police have to deal with a lot of dangerous and scary people. But all the more reason not to pull over a young employed citizen with nothing but benefit in her life to the community for no reason. Why pull her over? Why not do some real police work? So what if she's mouthy? Where is that illegal? Maybe in Russia or Singapore?