Texas jail: Naperville woman previously attempted suicide
Sandra Bland's older sister says she was “infuriated” when she saw the police dashboard video of Sandra's arrest earlier this month by a Texas state trooper.
The video shows what started as a routine traffic stop in Prairie View, Texas, quickly escalate and lead to Sandra's arrest on charges of assaulting a public servant.
“She was pulled over for something so insignificant and because of an officer who felt like maybe his ego was bruised,” Sharon Cooper said Wednesday during a news conference at the DuPage African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lisle where the 28-year-old Bland was an active parishioner.
After her arrest July 10, the Naperville woman was taken to the Waller County jail, about 60 miles northwest of Houston. She was found dead in her cell three days later after authorities said she hanged herself with a plastic bag.
The family has ordered a second, independent autopsy and plans to hire an expert to do a forensic analysis of the dashboard video.
“As her sister, I simply feel like the officer was picking on her,” Cooper said. “Point blank, period.”
The family also has expressed doubts about the official version of Bland's death.
Family attorney Cannon Lambert on Wednesday dismissed reports, based on a Facebook video Bland posted in March, that she was suffering from “a bit of depression” and post-traumatic stress syndrome. He said the family has no knowledge of any clinical diagnosis involving Bland or that she was taking medication.
“We take issue with the notion that she was suffering from depression,” he said.
Lambert's comments came before the Waller County sheriff's office released records that authorities say show Bland told officials at intake that she attempted suicide by taking pills because of a “lost baby.” A form filled out during the jail screening says Bland had suicidal thoughts in the last year, but it's unclear from the handwritten responses whether she had attempted suicide in 2014 or 2015.
Yet at the same time she indicated she was not feeling suicidal on the day she was jailed.
She also reported during the intake screening that she had epilepsy, according to sheriff's office records.
Lambert, however, said family members still are seeking answers to questions about how someone eager to start a new job at her alma mater at Prairie View A&M University, who had gone grocery shopping and had left messages with loved ones, could take her own life.
“Sandy was a social activist,” Lambert said, pointing to her “Sandy Speaks” videos on Facebook in which she opined on racism and excessive police force. “Social activists don't take their own life, particularly in jail. It just doesn't make sense.”
The Texas Department of Safety released the 52-minute dashboard video Tuesday, showing the traffic stop for an improper lane change escalated into a heated exchange between trooper Brian Encinia and Bland. Encinia has since been assigned “administrative duties,” and authorities said he violated the department's traffic stop procedures and courtesy policy.
“I will light you up!” Encinia yells, pointing his stun gun at Bland, at the video's 10:30 mark.
The department planned to post the video again Wednesday and maintained that it was not edited after complaints about gaps in the footage.
DPS spokesman Tom Vinger told The Associated Press that glitches in the recording occurred when it was uploaded for public viewing. He also said FBI agents examined the camera to ensure the video's integrity.
Vinger said the entire video was uploaded, including a phone conversation between Encinia and his sergeant. Vinger said video during this conversation was affected in the upload and is being addressed.
The video posted on the department's website Tuesday shows Encinia pulling Bland over for failing to signal a lane change. He issues her a ticket and says, “You seem really irritated.”
“I am. I really am. Because I feel like it's crap for what I'm getting a ticket for,” replies Bland, who says she was getting out of the trooper's way.
Encinia asks her to put out her cigarette.
“I'm in my car. Why do I have to put out my cigarette?” Bland asks.
Encinia repeatedly orders her to get out of the car, and Bland repeatedly refuses.
“Get out of the car! I will light you up! Get out!” Encinia yells, pointing his stun gun at Bland.
Bland gets out, holding her cellphone, seemingly recording the encounter. Encinia leads her off camera, but the audio remains. Another video, apparently captured by a bystander, shows Encinia restraining Bland on the ground.
“Put your phone down right now,” he says.
“Are you feeling good about yourself? For a failure to signal, you feel real good about yourself, don't you?” Bland says.
She begins to swear and then pleads, “You're about to break my wrists. Can't you stop?”
Encinia shouts to stop moving.
“You just slammed my head into the ground,” Bland says, just after 15 minutes into the video. “Do you not even care about that?”
Back on camera, Encinia tells an officer Bland kicked him.
Her sister said Texas authorities have been cooperative but have not commented on the trooper's behavior, except to say that it was inappropriate. Cooper sympathized with Bland refusing to get out of the car.
“When you tell me that 'you're going to light me up,' I feel extremely threatened and concerned, and I'm not going to get out of my car,” Cooper said.
Bland's family said her body has been flown back from Texas in preparation for Saturday's scheduled funeral services at the tight-knit DuPage AME church at 4300 Yackley Ave.
“We know that in the coming days we are going to have to lay our awesome, beloved daughter, sister, friend, aunt to rest,” Cooper said. “That's very difficult.”
Cooper said her sister's death and arrest has struck a chord on social media, urging those following the case to keep tweeting hashtags like #WhathappenedtoSandraBland and “#Sayhername.”
“The minute that you forget her name, you forget her character and that she was a person,” she said.