Friends and family of Ms. Bland, who was found dead this month in a Texas jail, gathered Saturday to remember someone they say was far from suicidal.
LISLE, Ill. — Family and friends of Sandra Bland, the Illinois woman who was found dead in a Texas jail cell, gathered Saturday to celebrate her life, even as many questioned the circumstances of her death.
Mourners, some wearing all-white clothing, others in ornate suits or colorful dresses, arrived by the hundreds in the morning at DuPage A.M.E. Church in Lisle for Ms. Bland’s wake and funeral. Just after 8:30 a.m., a hearse pulled up to the church. One woman, wearing a T-shirt that read “#SandySpeaks” — a Twitter hashtag used by activists and friends of Ms. Bland’s in recent days — became visibly emotional as the hearse arrived.
Ms. Bland, 28, was remembered by leaders at DuPage as a smart, outspoken woman who once sang in the youth choir and participated in the church’s Girl Scout unit. After graduating from college, she returned here and served on church committees, befriended the congregation’s elderly and earned a reputation as a prolific taker of selfie photos.
The authorities in Texas have said Ms. Bland committed suicide by hanging herself with a trash can liner on July 13, three days after she was arrested on a charge of assaulting a public servant and jailed in Waller County. Many at DuPage, a large African-American congregation in this predominantly white slice of the Chicago suburbs, have expressed doubts about that explanation.
The Rev. Theresa Dear, an associate minister at DuPage,had known Ms. Bland since she started attending the church as a young girl. Ms. Dear said the official account of Ms. Bland’s death clashed with her memories of an ambitious, educated Christian who was excited about the future and who had helped organize the church’s recent Women’s Day event.
“This is someone who had over 50 selfies, healthy self-esteem,” said Ms. Dear, who is also a national board member of the N.A.A.C.P. “Someone who had two job offers. Someone who just talked to her family and knew that help and rescue was on the way. This is someone who knew the Lord, and was extremely close with her church family and her sisters, her biological family.
“None of that adds up to taking one’s life or suicide.”
A few days before her death, Ms. Bland was pulled over by Brian T. Encinia, a Texas state trooper, for changing lanes without signaling. A dashboard camera video shows the encounter progressing to a disagreement over whether Ms. Bland had to extinguish a cigarette and then escalating to her being threatened with a stun gun and handcuffed as she sprawled on the ground.
She was taken to jail and charged with assaulting Mr. Encinia, 30, who was later placed on administrative leave for violating department policies during the stop.
Ms. Bland’s death has spurred skepticism and outrage on Twitter, where her name quickly became a trending hashtag invoked alongside Michael Brown, the black 18-year-old killed last year by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., and Freddie Gray, a black man who died this year after being arrested by the Baltimore police.
Members of DuPage A.M.E. held a march in Ms. Bland’s honor last weekend, and demonstrators in Texas have protested her death.
Ms. Bland had been active online in recent months, posting videos that critiqued race relations in the country and questioned how police officers treat black people. Ms. Bland “found her voice in social media and the civil rights realm and space,” Ms. Dear said.
In one of those videos, Ms. Bland told viewers that she had depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, but had found solace in her faith. Cannon Lambert, a lawyer for the Bland family, has said relatives were not aware of any clinical diagnosis of depression or medication she was taking for that condition. Texas officials said Ms. Bland had told her jailers that she had attempted suicide in the past.
At DuPage, the dashboard camera footage and other information from Texas seemed to give rise to more questions than answers. The Rev. Morgan Dixon, a church administrator who had long known Ms. Bland, said that “I don’t buy” the official version of her death. Ms. Dixon took special issue with the trooper’s conduct during the stop.
“When I watch the official dashcam video, that could have easily been me,” Ms. Dixon said. “Sandy, to me, was calmer than I would have been. If you pull me over for something as simple as that, either write me the ticket, or don’t and be on your way. It would be very difficult to me to want to adhere to that authority.”
Still, amid local talk about the circumstances of Ms. Bland’s death, those who knew her made an effort to keep a focus on her life. This was the woman everyone here called Sandy, who grew up in the church, loved spicy foods, was a gifted player on the trombone and made her community proud by leaving Illinois for college, coming back with a degree in hand and then, just weeks ago, landing a new job far from home. (She had moved to Hempstead, Tex., about 50 miles outside Houston, for a job at Prairie View A&M University, a historically black institution and her alma mater.)
“She was just so regal in her presence,” Ms. Dear said. “She had lots of confidence.”
How do we know if we’re in control? That we’re not just making the best of what comes at us, and that’s it. Trying to constantly pick between two options. Like your two paintings in the waiting room. Or…Coke and Pepsi. McDonald’s or Burger King? Hyundai or Honda? It’s all part of the same blur, right? Just out of focus enough. It’s the illusion of choice. Half of us can’t even pick our own– our cable, gas, electric. The water we drink, our health insurance. Even if we did, would it matter? You know, if our only option is Blue Cross or Blue Shield, what the fuck is the difference? In fact, aren’t they– aren’t they the same? No, man… our choices are prepaid for us, long time ago. What’s the point, right? Might as well, just– you do nothing. Might as well do nothing.
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