Twenty-eight year old Sandra Bland was supposed to start her new job on Wednesday as a Student Outreach Officer at her alma mater, Texas Prairie View A&M. A few day ago, however, she was pulled over by police in Waller County, Texas because she didn’t signal as she was changing lanes. A witness described what happened next. “After [the officer] pulled her out of the car, forced her and tossed her to the ground, kneed to the neck, and arrested her.”
Police claim that Bland was “combative on the side of the road” and charged her with “assault on a public servant,” yet available video of the arrest does not support this claim. What the video does show is grossly unnecessary behavior by the police against Bland. “[The video] shows several police officers standing over Bland while she is on the ground, [asking] them about why they’re being so rough. At one point, she can be heard saying, ‘You just slammed my head into the ground! Do you even care about that? I can’t even hear!’ She also thanks the man recording the incident for filming as she is led to a police cruiser.”
Bland’s sister, Shante Needham, told ABC that she spoke with Sandy while she was in jail over the weekend. “[She said] the officer had put his knees in her back and that she thought her shoulder was broken.”
Three days later, Sandra Bland was dead.
Still in police custody for a minor traffic violation, Bland was found dead in her jail cell at 9am on Monday by what an autopsy determined was suicide by asphyxiation from hanging. However, no one is believing this story, and with good reason.
In the reality of the lived experiences of Black Americans, what is more likely?: That a young woman who has spoken out about police brutality and was part of the Black Lives Matter movement, who was described by a friend as “mentally and spiritually strong,” who was excited to start her new job- killed herself after three days in jail on a bogus charge? Or is it more likely that she was killed by police violence and the department is trying to cover it up, as has happened countless times just in recent memory?
Her family and friends are demanding answers. “I do suspect foul play,” friend Cheryl Nanton told ABC. “I believe that we are all 100% in belief that she did not do harm to herself.” In a press release, it was announced that the family has hired a lawyer. “The family of Sandra Bland is confident that she was killed and did not commit suicide. The family has retained counsel to investigate Sandy’s death.”
The formal investigation is being led by the Texas Rangers, with assistance from the FBI.
“We all want to know how did a simple traffic stop end up with the death of a young black woman who was just trying to move on in life,” said friend LaVaughn Mosely. “Anyone who knows Sandy Bland knows she has a thirst for life. She was planning for the future, and she came here to start that future, so to say she killed herself is totally absurd.”
Bland’s cousin, Chauntina Clark, told Buzzfeed that the whole situation feels suspicious. “It’s pretty obvious this doesn’t add up.
District Attorney Elton Mathis of Waller County says that he “does not have any information that would make me think it was anything other than a suicide,” but he did admit to the NBC station in Houston that, “it is strange someone who had everything going for her would have taken her own life.“
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