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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:
Methe · 25/07/2015 18:15

poor woman had only be arrested for nicking a phone I think Sad

I don't understand this comment at all. Are you suggesting she shouldn't have been arrested?

Nicknacky · 25/07/2015 18:16

To be fair, the girl who "stole" the phone was charged with first degree robbery. That's not nicking it out of a handbag and it's not a petty charge.

WhirlpoolGalaxyM51 · 25/07/2015 18:20

She is dead. She was 18. Some people find that upsetting.

Obviously, some people don't.

WhirlpoolGalaxyM51 · 25/07/2015 18:23

Also, she was arrested on suspicion of stealing.

She had not been found guilty.

Apparently "innocent until proven guilty" applies to some people more than others.

She was arrested on suspicion of stealing, she was 18, she is now dead. The police say she killed herself. The family have their doubts. Someone describes her as a "poor woman" what with her being DEAD and all, and another complains about this.

Methe · 25/07/2015 18:27

It was the only I was shocked at.

SofiaAmes · 25/07/2015 18:34

It doesn't excuse what is happening in the USA, but don't think that this doesn't happen in the UK. When I lived in London, I went to court on behalf of a young black neighbor and testified against the police for him. They were accusing him of GBH against the police when in fact the police had assaulted him (and his 12 year old sister). Luckily for him I, a white middle class woman, had witnessed the whole thing and was willing to risk retaliation from the police (who did threaten my husband at the time) to go and testify on his behalf. (He was found innocent.)

MrsDeVere · 25/07/2015 18:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WhirlpoolGalaxyM51 · 25/07/2015 18:41

YY sofia

website concerned with this

MarchLikeAnAnt · 25/07/2015 18:53

I don't understand this comment at all. Are you suggesting she shouldn't have been arrested?

Not at all. It's just sad that she ended up dead after being arrested for stealing a phone. It's not a God awful crime is it?

Nicknacky · 25/07/2015 19:08

The value of the stolen item doesn't make it any less of a crime. It could be £1 or £1000 if the item is taken as part of a robbery. You aren't any less robbed if you didn't have an expensive handbag.

Not to mention some phones can be worth hundreds of pounds.

GraysAnalogy · 25/07/2015 19:15

The point is she ended up dead over a bloody phone.

MarchLikeAnAnt · 25/07/2015 19:17

Fgs I know that. I don't think I'm explaining myself very well.

GraysAnalogy · 25/07/2015 19:18

You are people are just being obtuse.

MarchLikeAnAnt · 25/07/2015 19:18

There was a terrible case of a mentally ill prisoner having one of his eyes gouged out by a prison officer, the guard who blew the whistle on his colleague got fired. The prisoner had been cowering under a blanket when 5 officers barged into his cell and one of them removed his eyeball (Florida I think)

Makes me sick that these things are happening.

WhirlpoolGalaxyM51 · 25/07/2015 19:21

Huh?

Irrespective of the value of the item stolen, it is sad if someone ends up dead as a result, is what a couple of people on the thread are saying. People often feel more upset if the person is young, this person was 18.

I don't think that stealing a phone, or even a thousand pounds, makes a difference to whether a person "should" feel shock or sadness about the death of a young person as a result of that theft.

There is also the point that she had not been found guilty. Like I say, the idea of "innocent until proven guilty" doesn't seem to apply to this young woman at all in the minds of some people.

She was young, she was black, she was arrested on suspicion of a crime, she is dead. Some people think that's sad, some people don't. That's life I guess.

Methe · 25/07/2015 19:23

Being robbed is awful. It not only robs you of your property but it robs of of your sense of wellbeing, your ability to feel safe and your trust! I have no time for robbers, regardless of their race.

It is a shame the young lady in this instance felt the need to hang herself in her cell but it doesn't sound like she was made to do it? I haven't read any of the links posted so sorry if I've missed something but I'm not sure why the case of theif hanging herself in her cell is being discussed on a thread about police racism and brutality?

The case of Sandra Bland is terrifying and awful :(

GeorgeYeatsAutomaticWriter · 25/07/2015 19:23

The value of the stolen item doesn't make it any less of a crime. It could be £1 or £1000 if the item is taken as part of a robbery.

That's the sort of attitude that saw people transported to Van Diemen's Land for stealing a cabbage. Wise up.

GraysAnalogy · 25/07/2015 19:25

march I briefly mentioned that a few posts back. Horrific what happened

MarchLikeAnAnt · 25/07/2015 19:26

Methe well, her family and other supporters don't believe that she did it to herself. (In the report I read)

WhirlpoolGalaxyM51 · 25/07/2015 19:27

Methe

She was arrested, she had not been tried / found guilty.
Her family do not think she hung herself. They have concerns.

Maybe read the link.

MarchLikeAnAnt · 25/07/2015 19:27

Sorry, I must have missed it gray

Nicknacky · 25/07/2015 19:29

George Wise up? I have the job of dealing with victims of robberies all too frequently, and I have locked up people for stealing less than a phone and I have no hesitation or doubt at doing that

Don't underestimate the fear that crime installs in its victim. Would you feel as sorry for the alleged suspect if he was a 25 year old violent drug user with a long history of offences?

GraysAnalogy · 25/07/2015 19:29

Don't apologise I was just saying. I only read about it yesterday on Reddit and I was gobsmacked. I rather stupidly looked at the photos too and they're very upsetting :(

WhirlpoolGalaxyM51 · 25/07/2015 19:32

Thing is, with the mistrust and maltreatment of non white people by police, every time a non white person is injured or dies there are going to be a lot of questions and suspicions.

Even one death due to police brutality is too many, and as the police are in a position of power, they need to behave in a manner which is above reproach.

When the trust is gone, questions are always going to be asked. As it is, even the cases where the police have done nothing wrong will be treated with suspicion, while there are cases elsewhere that police are shown to be acting improperly / violently / racistly (?sp) and killing people for no good reason.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 25/07/2015 19:33

I'm not sure why the case of theif hanging herself in her cell is being discussed on a thread about police racism and brutality?

If you mean the case of Kindra Chapman, maybe it's relevant that in that case, too, there were initial suggestions that she didn't actually kill herself

It makes no difference to their awful loss, of course, but FWIW it's reported that her parents have now accepted she committed suicide

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