A NUMBER OF people have claimed the dashcam video of Sandra Bland’s arrest has been edited.
In it, officer Brian Encinia appears to threaten her with a Taser.
Journalist Ben Norton has written a blog detailing discrepancies in the video.
Bland (28) was arrested in Waller County in Texas on Friday, 10 July after being pulled over for improper signalling of a lane change. The following Monday morning, she was found dead in her jail cell.
The coroner said she hanged herself in her cell but her family has demanded an independent autopsy.
In the video, released by the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS), the officer orders Bland from her car as she complains about her treatment. He then draws what appears to be a Taser-style stun gun and says: “I will light you up.”
The officer leads her to the side of the road and handcuffs her. He later claims that she resisted arrest and kicked him, but the brief final altercation happens out of the shot.
Encinia, who has been put on administrative leave, said he was kicked. Bland was later charged with assaulting a police officer.
She is the latest in a number of African Americans to die in confrontations with law enforcement, stretching back to the August 2014 death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
In the video she is heard protesting that she has epilepsy and the officer responds “good” while a female officer who arrives at the scene after the initial confrontation says: “You should have thought of that before resisting.”
Norton claims there are a number of discrepancies in the video:
In a statement, the TDPS extended its “sincere condolences” for Bland’s family’s “tragic loss”.
“This team of investigators is committed to conducting a thorough and impartial investigation. When the Texas Rangers and FBI investigation is complete, it will be turned over for review by the District Attorney, who has indicated it will also be brought before a grand jury.”
Through their lawyer, Bland’s family said her funeral will be held on Saturday in Illinois, west of Chicago.
A resident of Illinois, she had returned to Texas for a job interview at Prairie View A&M University, from which she had graduated in 2009.
With reporting from AFP
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say