Sandra Bland dashcam video shows officer threatened: 'I will light you up'

[umbertino]

• Texas police accused of editing video before its release

• Authorities say jail death being investigated in same way as murder case

 

 

 

Tom Dart in Prairie View, Texas

 

Wednesday 22 July 2015 09.01 BST

 

 

 

 

Dashcam video from the officer who arrested Sandra Bland – a black woman who later died in Texas police custody – shows him threatening to drag her out of her car and “light her up” with a Taser after their encounter escalates from a routine traffic stop into an angry confrontation where she is forced to the ground and handcuffed.

 

The Texas public safety department released the footage on Tuesday amid continuing questions surrounding her arrest and subsequent death in a county jail. As the video circulated on Tuesday night, attention was being drawn to a number of abrupt breaks in what was thought to have been an original, uninterrupted recording – leaving the impression it had been edited before its release. A Texas department of public safety spokesman told the Guardian he did not have an immediate explanation as to why.

 

In the supplied video, trooper Brian Encinia’s police car, pulling away from an earlier traffic stop, does a U-turn and follows Bland’s car for about 30 seconds, stopping her after her car changes lanes to the right without signalling.

 

After telling Bland why she has been stopped, asking some questions and then walking away, apparently to complete paperwork or make inquiries, the officer returns.

 

“You seem very irritated,” he says at one point after returning.

 

“I am, I really am,” she replies, “because I feel like it’s crap is what I’m getting a ticket for, I was getting out of your way, you were speeding up, tailing me so I moved over and you stopped me so yeah, I am a little irritated but that doesn’t stop you from giving me a ticket, so.”

 

The stop escalates into an aggressive confrontation when Encinia asks her: “You mind putting out your cigarette please, if you don’t mind.” She replies: “I’m in my car, why do I have to put out my cigarette?” The officer tells her: “Well, you can step on out now.”

 

When she refuses, Encinia becomes irate and leans into her car, apparently trying to pull her out. “I’m going to yank you out of here,” he says. “I’m going to drag you out of here.” He pulls what appears to be a Taser out of a holster and shouts: “Get out of the car. I will light you up. Get out. Now.”

 

They then walk off camera. The officer tells her to put her phone down. “For a failure to signal! For a failure to signal!” she says. “You know this is straight bullshit … Oh I cannot wait until we go to court.”

 

A few seconds later they are briefly visible again and Bland’s wrists are behind her back. She is heard screaming and sobbing: “You’re about to break my wrist, stop! … You’re a real man now, you just slammed me, knocked my head into the ground, I got epilepsy, you motherfxxxer.”

 

Encinia replies: “Good.” Bland says: “You just slammed my head into the ground. Do you not even care about that? I can’t even hear.”

 

On Tuesday Texas politicians demanded transparency and state officials pledged a full and fair investigation after a meeting of elected representatives arranged amid continuing questions surrounding her arrest and subsequent death in a county jail.

 

“We want the Department of Justice, we want the FBI and every agency like it to look at it to make sure that no one in America can say this was whitewashed,” Royce West, a Texas state senator, said on Tuesday after a more than two-hour meeting at Prairie View A&M University, near where Bland was arrested and where she had been about to start a new job.

 

“We want to make certain that there’s transparency. We know what’s going on in America,” he said, referring to the context of violent encounters across the country between African Americans and law enforcement.

 

“We believe there are questions that need to be answered as relates to the arrest,” West said. “She did not deserve to be placed in custody.”

 

Shortly after the press conference ended the Texas department of public safety (DPS) released the 52 minutes of dashcam footage of her arrest taken from the state trooper’s car.

 

“There’s a rush to judgment too often in America … but here in Texas I can tell you we believe in total transparency and we will find the truth wherever that leads,” said Dan Patrick, the state’s lieutenant governor. “We have to look at our procedures when people are taken into custody.”

 

The treatment of Bland at what had initially been a routine traffic stop and her death in custody three days later has sparked national outrage and widespread scepticism about the official account that she killed herself in her cell.

 

Encinia was placed on desk duty after the DPS said he violated traffic stop procedures and the department’s courtesy policy. “There’s no excuse for any instance where we don’t conduct traffic stops in a professional manner,” said Steven McCraw, the DPS director.

 

The 30-year-old became a trooper last year and previously worked as a firefighter and an ingredient processing supervisor at an ice cream factory, according to his LinkedIn profile.

 

He stopped Bland’s silver Hyundai Azera in Prairie View, near Houston, on the afternoon of 10 July, supposedly for failing to signal a lane change.

 

The Waller county district attorney’s office released Bland’s arrest warrant on Tuesday. Encinia writes: “I had Bland exit the vehicle to further conduct a safe traffic investigation. Bland became combative and unco-operative. Numerous commands were given to Bland ordering her to exit the vehicle. Bland was removed from the car but became more combative. Bland was placed in handcuffs for officer safety.

 

“Bland began swinging her elbows at me and then kicked my right shin. I had a pain in my right leg and suffered small cuts on my right hand. Force was then used to subdue Bland to the ground to which Bland continued to fight back. The 28-year-old was placed under arrest for Assault on Public Servant.”

 

Waller county officials released video from inside the jail on Monday after a news conference. It appears to show that no one entered her cell in the 90 minutes before her body was found, but there is no camera footage that shows the inside of the cell, according to the district attorney, Elton Mathis.

 

He said that it was too soon to make definitive conclusions as to whether her death was suicide or murder. Mathis pledged that the investigation would be carried out as thoroughly as if it were murder because “there are too many questions that need to be resolved”. The trash bag with which Bland allegedly hanged herself would be examined for DNA and fingerprints, he said, adding that her phone had been handed to the FBI to see if it contained any useful information.

 

“It has not been determined at this point that this is a murder,” he said on Tuesday. “Whenever you have a suspicious death, that is treated as a homicide.”

 

He said the results of the investigation would be presented to a grand jury that would decide if there is a criminal case to answer. West said that he had asked Mathis to ensure that the jury is ethnically diverse.

 

Waller county’s long history of racism and recent high-profile cases of fatal encounters between police and African Americans have seen the case gain attention on social media, especially given her family’s contention that there is no reason to believe she would take her own life. She had just driven from her home in Illinois to Texas to take up a job at Prairie View A&M University, her alma mater, and friends said she was in good spirits.

 

Activist groups have called for the US Justice Department to conduct an investigation. A media conference where LaVaughn Mosley, a friend of Bland, will demand Sheriff Smith’s resignation is scheduled for tomorrow.

 

A memorial service was held on the campus on Tuesday evening. Bland’s funeral is set for Saturday at a Chicago-area church, the Chicago Tribune reported.

 

“They will have justice in Texas,” Patrick said.

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/21/sandra-bland-dashcam-video-arrest-released

[Texstorm]

You can't fix stupid ! The officer was going to give her a warning and what did she do, get stupid ! That caused her arrest and then she got even more stupid and hung her self all by herself ! Self inflicted dumbass !

[Shabibilicious]

Why did she have a trash bag?  How much garbage could a jailed person possibly have?     

 

GO RV, then BV

[Texstorm]

It's for sanitary reasons Shabs if not some other rights group would be yelling for sanitary conditions.

[Texstorm]

In the State of Texas you can be arrested for any driving offense other than speeding, however you can be arrested for excessive speed according to the speed limits or conditions of nature such as rain, snow, dusk or dawn, night or day lightness. 

[Artitech]

All such a shame, another case of not obeying the lawful orders, given by a police officer! My advice, take or leave it. Do what the police officers say to do, then if you don't like it, or agree with the officer. Go See The Judge at the court house! That way you don't go to jail, or worst things happening to you. Its just that simple. 

[pokerplayer]

Obummer wishes he had a daughter that looked just like her.................

 

pp  

[Nelg]

All such a shame, another case of not obeying the lawful orders, given by a police officer! My advice, take or leave it. Do what the police officers say to do, then if you don't like it, or agree with the officer. Go See The Judge at the court house! That way you don't go to jail, or worst things happening to you. Its just that simple. 

Agree!!  But here is the thing....some people are not taught how to respond to authority; ANY authority!  Some people, ignorant of the law, ignorant of any decorum or guidelines as to how to handle confrontative situations, they respond with screaming, kicking, and using profanity.  None of that helps, but only escalates from bad to worse.  Blame is tacked to the arresting offices in order to take the spotlight off the ignorant.  I am truly sorry that she lost her life, but so far it looks like it all falls on her shoulders.  

[Rockymtnhi]

I hope that cop gets the chair.  Radical terrorist cops are doing this everyday it seems.  It has become a police state.  Time to correct this now.

[Peace]

 

the entire video.

 

the comments are there. at different places in the video all throughout the tape has been edited, you can see the loop, which means those voices were dubbed in over parts...  yea we ain't getting the full story... and BTW its not illegal to ask an officer "why your being arrested" also he is the one who asked her how she was feeling... and then she says "irritated" so because she is honest  and it offended him, this girl got manhandled. and by the way did you hear him say that "ill light you up" wtf!    HE IS THE AGGRESSOR. AND THERE IS SOME COVER UP GOING ON. HE NEEDS TO BE FIRED FROM EVER WORKING IN A CIVIL JOB AGAIN.

 

You are allowed to ask why you are being arrested!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[Peace]

His False Authority got to him. Also, this girl is strong... she just a day away from a new job working for A&M and she is an activist. so something smells about being hanged.

look at minute 32          but there are more before

He had his authority challenged by a fn question your allowed to ask?!            Bless your soul and prayers to your family. 

he got offended bottom line that was personal.

she was just being HONEST and people can't handle that especially when your a bogus cop 

Why can't he tell her why she is being arrested?!!!!!!!!!!!           IT IS BS

HE WAS OUTTA LINE    I HOPE HE GETS CRIMINAL CHARGES

[DinarMillionaire]

That cop should loose his job. He got pissed as soon as she refused to put out her cigarette. He is one of those types that should not have a badge. He thinks he's the "authority bad ass", that when he speaks, people should jump. A good cop would not have gotten all bent out of shape, just because she refused to put out her cigarette. I had an encounter with an "authority bad ass" one time. He was absolutely in the wrong when he pulled my friend and I over, long story short...as he was passing us (head on) he flashed us with his brights and my friend flashed him back to let him know he didn't have his brights on. So he threw on his brights right in front of us, so my friend threw on his. That's when the jerk turned around and pulled us over. I jumped out of the passenger seat and proceeded to cuss him out for his actions, which turned into a heated argument between he and I. I told him to write me the damn ticket and handed him my license. When he saw my name he got a lot nicer and let my friend off with a "warning". He was properly let go from the Department of Public Safety about a month or so later. My dad was friends with the head honcho of the Texas DPS. This cop should be gone too. Good cops wouldn't act like that over something so trivial. His treatment of that poor woman was terrible. The best way to deal with his kind is...comply and then make a complaint to his superiors. When enough people do that, he's toast.

[umbertino]

Dead at 28, Sandra Bland's Texas dream turned nightmare

 

by: Kelly Sinclair

July 22 2015

 

 

 

Sandra Bland, age 28, lit a cigarette in her car.

 

On a sweltering Friday, July 10, she waited for the Texas patrol officer to return with her license and insurance card.

 

She had been stopped while en route from Prairie View A & M University, her alma mater, after completing new employee forms there. Next week would begin her new life working at the university after moving to the area from Illinois.

 

The officer, identified for the public as Brian Encina after much pressure, said that she had failed to use her turn signal in changing lanes. An ordinary traffic infraction, usually.

 

When the trooper returned to her vehicle, he demanded that she put out her cigarette, which she refused to do. It was her car, her cigarette, and smoking in one's car is not yet a crime.

 

According to federal statistics, an African-American driver is 31 percent more likely to be pulled over for a traffic citation. Minority drivers are also significantly more likely to be searched and their cash seized than Caucasians.

 

According to Bland's family attorney, Cannon Lambert, who viewed the trooper's dash cam footage, the trooper demanded that Bland exit the car, despite the lack of probable cause for any offense beyond her minor traffic infraction. When Bland refused to get out, the officer escalated the show of force by threatening her with a taser.

 

Lambert said there was "no clear understanding why she had to get out of the car in the first place. It is a routine traffic stop."

 

Bland, a Black Lives Matter activist, who had in the past posted videos expressing her concern over cases of police violence, now found herself the subject of an eyewitness video. As the witness began recording the scene with a camera phone, the trooper yanked her away from the vehicle and threw her forcefully to the ground.

 

With the officer's knee pressed into her back, Bland said, "You just slammed my head into the ground. Do you not even care about that? I can't even hear."

 

According to the officer's report, he had been about to issue a written warning when she kicked him, whereupon he arrested her for attacking a public servant.

 

She was taken to a jail in Hempstead which is near Houston, where she spent the weekend locked up in Waller county jail. Charged with assault on a public servant, which is a third-degree felony, she appeared in court Saturday, where her bond was set at $5,000.

 

Bland remained stuck behind bars, faced with having to pay bond and with the potential of a permanent criminal record. Her dream of a new life in Texas had turned into a nightmare.

 

On Monday morning, according to the sheriff's office, Bland committed suicide by asphyxiating herself with a plastic bag.

 

Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis said at a press conference that Bland's body was not discovered for up to 90 minutes, which contravenes guidelines requiring hourly checks.

 

"This investigation is still being treated just as it would be in a murder investigation. There are many questions being raised in Waller County, across the country and the world about this case. It needs a thorough review," Mathis said.  He added that the case would go to a grand jury.

 

Claiming that Bland "was very combative," Mathis went on to say that "it was not a model traffic stop ... and it was not a model person that was stopped."

 

Waller County Jail had been cited for violations on three occasions since 2012, two of them for inmate suicides. Because of Bland's death, Waller County Jail has been de-certified, with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards issuing a "notice of non-compliance," citing issues with staff training and observation of inmates.

 

The trooper is on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. While Bland's life history-abetted by DA Mathis's "not a model person" claim-continues to be combed over by the media, the officer's name has yet to be released.

 

Supporters of Bland staged a rally July 17 rally at the Waller County Sh​eriff's Office and an online petition has been launched calling for the Department of Justice to take over the case.

 

 

 

Jeanette Williams places a bouquet of roses at a memorial for Sandra Bland near Prairie View A&M University, July 21, in Prairie View, Texas.  |  Pat Sullivan/AP

 

 

http://www.peoplesworld.org/dead-at-28-her-texas-dream-turned-nightmare/

[Shabibilicious]

That cop should loose his job. He got pissed as soon as she refused to put out her cigarette. He is one of those types that should not have a badge. He thinks he's the "authority bad ass", that when he speaks, people should jump. A good cop would not have gotten all bent out of shape, just because she refused to put out her cigarette. I had an encounter with an "authority bad ass" one time. He was absolutely in the wrong when he pulled my friend and I over, long story short...as he was passing us (head on) he flashed us with his brights and my friend flashed him back to let him know he didn't have his brights on. So he threw on his brights right in front of us, so my friend threw on his. That's when the jerk turned around and pulled us over. I jumped out of the passenger seat and proceeded to cuss him out for his actions, which turned into a heated argument between he and I. I told him to write me the damn ticket and handed him my license. When he saw my name he got a lot nicer and let my friend off with a "warning". He was properly let go from the Department of Public Safety about a month or so later. My dad was friends with the head honcho of the Texas DPS. This cop should be gone too. Good cops wouldn't act like that over something so trivial. His treatment of that poor woman was terrible. The best way to deal with his kind is...comply and then make a complaint to his superiors. When enough people do that, he's toast.

 

Bullied the bully using only your name.......Now that's power.    

 

GO RV, then BV