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Original poster

Another young black person dies in police custody in the US

227 replies

Floundering · 23/07/2015 23:06

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

OP posts:
Original poster
Floundering · 24/07/2015 18:46

:( Me neither Koala

OP posts:
Original poster
Floundering · 24/07/2015 18:54

A quote from her mother :(

"I want Sandy to be remembered as an activist, sassy, smart, and she knew her rights. And so while everybody is in an uproar, go do your research...so that you know your rights and it's not your daughter, your son, your kid. The anger can be channeled."

God love her- don't know if I could be that calm, but she is right.

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 24/07/2015 19:05

There is something particularly ironic about calling a bunch of people talking about institutional racism in the police force a "lynch mob". Because, yeah, police officers get lynched, all the time.

InHouseLawyer · 24/07/2015 19:33

Is the fact that the U.S. Police are instititionally racist really up for debate?!

Koalafications · 24/07/2015 19:36

My thoughts are with her family. I'm really angered by what has happened, I found the footage really upsetting and I didn't even know her I can't imagine how her family feel.

As shocking as that video is, what's more shocking is that I'm not actually surprised by it.

InHouseLawyer · 24/07/2015 19:43

I only watched the arrest video this evening. Before doing so I had read a lot of comment about how Sandra had "resisted arrest", "used profanity" been "non compliant".

I was shocked therefore to see a video of a woman seeking to assert her legitimate rights and a police officer teaming all over them.

I hope the truth, whatever it is, comes out but this stage I just cannot fathom why a woman who by all accounts was articulate and intelligent would kill herself when she so clearly was in the right.

Koalafications · 24/07/2015 19:55

Can anyone shed any light on this... Sandy was in there for three days, surely she was entitled to a attorney? Why did the attorney not get her out of jail? The cop didn't read her her Miranda rights and there was no reason for the arrest... Did her attorney not see the video?

I find it hard to believe this would have happened to a wealthy american citizen.

SycamoreMum · 24/07/2015 20:02

Koala its just a mess. There wasn't a mention of an attorney I don't think, which is even more suspect! These are questions everybody's asking. I was sent a clip of a voicemail she left in jail and she sounds articulate and as healthy as she could be I suppose but shes confused as to what she was arrested.

tomatodizzymum · 24/07/2015 20:06

I was pulled over in the US by a state trooper, I am a white woman, he was mean and rude and wasn't about to give me a chance to explain myself, I got a ticket. US police officers are not like the ones in the UK, you argue back you will get arrested, doesn't matter what race you are, it's that simple. Not sure if that's right or wrong to be honest, I work with kids who have PTSD so I have a lot of dealings with the police, especially when I lived in the USA and have seen some of the things they have to deal with on a daily basis, it does make them hard and intolerant of law breakers. It would be a miracle if it did not.

What happened was a tragedy, some police officers are racist, because they are people and some people are racist, some do have a power complex but you cannot paint the whole US police system with the same brush and that is not the issue here anyway, the issue is that she died in custody and her family need answers. I hope they get them.

Nicknacky · 24/07/2015 20:50

There is two issues here. The first is clearly her arrest which is outrageous and hard to justify by watching the video. I would imagine that cop has a lot to answer for.

Regarding her death.....there is CCTV which I would imagine is hard to tamper with as if it is similar to British systems will be downloaded straight to hard drive and no one could tamper with it. Therefore it would pick up people entering her cell before contacting ambulance etc.

Most prison records will document when the image was taken. Not to mention it will be quite clear if the background doesn't match, also quite often the cameras are static and the image is downloaded automatically. And why the need to fake it?

Disclaimer......clearly I don't know if the above two points are correct but worth bearing in mind.

As to the height of the partition or whatever she had hung herself from, I have been to several hangings where the person is at a fairly low level, that's not uncommon and it's not always done at height. I have been to a suicide where the person was sitting.

InHouseLawyer · 24/07/2015 20:53

nicknacky interesting point about cctv being difficult to tamper with when it is very clear that the tape that the police originally released of the arrest was tampered with.

Fugghetaboutit · 24/07/2015 21:03

Of course they mess with evidence. You would be v naive to assume they don't.

Nicknacky · 24/07/2015 21:06

I'm referring to the footage from the prison.

tomatodizzymum · 24/07/2015 21:09

I've just watched the full footage of her arrest, including the previous traffic stop that the officer made before hers. Interesting

InHouseLawyer · 24/07/2015 21:19

nicknacky I understand you were referring to the footage of the prison. I find it surprising that despite police releasing a tampered version of the stop video, that you seem to believe it not possible/unlikely that the later video may have been tampered with.

Nicknacky · 24/07/2015 21:32

I'm referring to the systems that I use. Clearly every organisation, prison, police office may have different systems so it's impossible to say definitively, but the ones I use for policing purposes do not allow access for any kind of tampering.

For example, our custody suites footage is not held in the office in which it's recorded so unless a completely unconnected person was to tamper with it (and frankly, why would they)! its recorded in full. Although it could be legally redacted for broadcasting to the media.

sliceofsoup · 24/07/2015 22:42

The CCTV cameras in the prison are motion operated. Which to me is a HUGE flaw.

If there is no footage, then that means there was no activity in that area. (!!)

Much more reliable to have a constant recording, so that if there is no footage, that signals an issue. Its like they have provided themselves with an alibi just in case. How convenient to say the motion sensor wasn't activated, therefore that proves there was no third party involvement.

Apparently there is also a fellow inmate from an adjoining cell who gave a statement saying she heard no commotion or struggle. The validity of that statement MUST be called into question, given the vested interest all parties have in that individual backing up the police, however, I never for one minute suspected Sandra was attacked in her cell that morning. I am of the opinion that brutality at some other point, whether at the initial arrest or elsewhere in the jail, led to her death.

The police also claimed she refused medical treatment. From watching the arrest video I find that very hard to believe. She was in pain, why would she refuse? And yes, no mention anywhere of an attorney being offered or contacted at all.

KevinKnowsImMiserableNow · 24/07/2015 23:21

Horrible story, poor woman :(

Sandra Bland's personal fb page has quite a few pictures about police brutality towards black people that pre-date her arrest.

Is there any chance at all that she was on their radar in some way?

MarchLikeAnAnt · 24/07/2015 23:26

She was quite a well known activist KevinKnowsImMiserableNow so I'm sure she was on the radar.

sliceofsoup · 24/07/2015 23:30

I don't know, but in the youtube video linked just above, I think Sandra drives past the police officer in the opposite direction as he is pulling out from another traffic stop. He then turns in the road and follows her. You have to wonder did he see that she was a lone black female and that is why he followed her.

She had only arrived in Texas the day before I think, so I don't think she would have been on their radar as such.

Koalafications · 25/07/2015 00:24

I find it incredibly hard to believe that she wouldn't have sought medical treatment.

Fantasyland · 25/07/2015 01:01

Why wouldn't a mugshot have been taken when she first arrived in jail?

Are people saying a mugshot was taken after her death as they had no intention of charging her as they knew they had no legal right to keep her that long?
They just intended to keep her in a few days, I don't understand why the police wouldn't have taken a mugshot on first arrival

GraysAnalogy · 25/07/2015 01:58

I know someone has mentioned above about things being difficult to tamper with, but we have to remember the country this is in. The U.S. doesn't have nationwide systems that are subject to audit for suitability. They can each have completely different systems in place. Small town stations for example might reply on zero CCTV. It isn't out of possibility that the prison one was tempered with.

And to be honest I don't think it actually was. I think if it's false she committed suicide, then she died from a brain hemorrhage from the bang to her head.

GraysAnalogy · 25/07/2015 01:58

The bang she sustained during the arrest I mean

IsItStupid · 25/07/2015 02:18

It's a horrible story. I guess that I can't really make a judgement without all the facts but I really hope that the full truth comes out soon and that justice is served.

Imagine going from having a new job and driving around to dead in police custody in under a week. Just awful.

On a different note, passmethewine, weed can be detected in the body up to around 25 days after it was taken, unlike many other drugs which pass in 24-36 hours.

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