Race row in US over death of woman in police clash
POLICE in the US were embroiled in a fresh race row last night after footage emerged showing an officer losing his temper with a black woman who later died in custody.
Sandra Bland, a civil rights activist from Chicago, was found hanged in her cell three days after she was arrested by the officer during a routine traffic stop in Texas.
Her family challenge claims she killed herself and believe officers were involved in her death. The 28-year- old was an outspoken critic of police brutality.
The video footage – shot from the dashboard camera of the officer’s patrol car during the incident in Prairie View near Houston on July 10 – was posted online by Texas officials yesterday. It
‘I will light
you up’
appeared to show the officer threatening Miss Bland with a Taser and using the words: ‘I will light you up.’ But the audio also appeared to suggest that she had acted aggressively towards him.
Miss Bland’s supporters claim the 52minute video had been edited, with cars and passers-by disappearing and reappearing. However, officials say the problems occurred when it was uploaded and they are working to ‘address’ the issue.
State trooper Brian Encina stopped Miss Bland’s car after she changed lane without signalling. The video shows that after he checks her details, she complains about getting a ticket, having changed lanes quickly to get out of his way.
The conversation gets heated when the officer asks her to put out her cigarette and she refuses. Both lose their tempers and get involved in a struggle when Miss Bland resists Mr Encina’s demands that she get out of the car.
He points a Taser stun gun at her and shouts: ‘Get out of the car. I will light you up. Get out. Now.’ She complies and is handcuffed but they struggle again and Miss Bland can be heard sobbing and screaming as she claims he is about to break her wrist. Mr Encina, 30, said he used force to ‘subdue Bland to the ground’ but she continued to fight back, ‘swinging her elbows’ and kicking him.
Miss Bland, who had recently moved to Texas, was taken to Waller County Sheriff’s Office after being charged with assaulting a public servant.
Police say she used a plastic rubbish bag to hang herself three days later. They say that the jail’s CCTV cameras showed that nobody had been near her cell for 90 minutes previous to her death, a detail that supports their claim she took her own life.
Miss Bland’s friends and family say she gave no indication she might commit suicide, although in videos she posted online earlier this year, she revealed she was suffering from depression.
Her death is now being investigated as a possible murder case by the FBI.
A police officer is under investigation in Cincinnati, Ohio, after he shot dead an unarmed black man during a traffic stop. Samuel Dubose, 43, was shot in the head by Officer Ray Tensing, who leant into the car as the motorist tried to drive away following a struggle.