“How did a traffic violation end in death? What happened in that jail?” Bland’s friend LaNitra Dean said to The Huffington Post. “What happened in that jail? That’s on everyone’s mind.”
Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old Chicago area resident left Illinois on a road trip to for an interview at Prairie View A&M University, her alma mater, was flagged in a traffic stop and pulled over in Waller County, Texas, on July 10 for improper signaling and ended up dead in a Texas jail. Family and friends demand to know how and why this happened.
Bland, was stopped by a Texas state trooper on Friday, July 10 and found dead at the Waller County, Texas, jail on Monday, July 13. Local authorities in Texas say Bland died by suicide, but her family and friends don’t believe that is the case and suspect that the true cause of her death is being covered up.
Bland was being held on $5,000 bail after a Saturday court appearance. Her friends say they planned to post her bail on Monday.
The Waller County Sheriff’s Office told the Chicago Tribune that Bland was arrested on Friday and charged with “assault on a public servant.”
Bland was pulled over by deputies in a routine traffic stop for improper signaling of a lane change, ABC 7 reports. During the stop, she allegedly assaulted a police officer.
Video of the arrest was posted onto YouTube. It shows several police officers standing over Bland while she is on the ground, arguing with 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 not even care about that?” She also thanks the man recording the incident for filming as she is led to a police cruiser.
Her friend, Malcolm Jackson, told ABC 7, “After he (an officer) pulled her out of the car, forced her and tossed her to the ground, knee to the neck, and arrested her.”
Police told the news station that Bland was “combative on the side of the road.”
Texas sheriff involved in the death of Sandra Bland fired from previous post for racism
We have now learned that Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith, who made the first public comments about Bland’s in-custody death, was suspended for documented cases of racism when he was chief of police in Hempstead, Texas, in 2007. After serving his suspension, more complaints of racism came in, and Smith was actually fired as chief of police in Hempstead, Daily Kos reported.
Council members are reviewing video of four arrests and detentions over the past month. The officers and police chief, who are the targets of the complaints, are white. Some residents are calling for a third of the city’s 15 person police force to be suspended, disciplined, or fired.
Allegations of racism have led to the Hempstead police chief being suspended and ordered to take anger management classes.
The Hempstead city council has been reviewing the case since last week and finally came to a decision at around 2am Tuesday. A number of residents have come forward with claims of racism by at least four white police officers.
The council reviewed the complaints, along with videotapes before making their decision to punish Chief Glen Smith. Some say it wasn’t enough. The chief says he respects the decision.
“My action during the arrest did not meet professionalism as it should with language and I’m not above policy and procedure, no more than any officer of this city,” said Chief Smith.
Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith, who was a chief of police in Homestead, suspended and then fired for racism and abuse, not only was able to still hold a position in law enforcement, the Homestead incident made Glenn Smith popular in Waller County, where he then ran for the elected position of sheriff and won against an African-American candidate, Jeron Barnett, who would’ve been the first black sheriff ever in Waller County.
There are conflicting reports for the death of this young black activist who often spoke out against police brutality against black men.
To contact the Waller County Sheriff’s office to join the family in demanding answers send emails to wallersheriff@wallercounty.us
1 comment
…this is happening ovah n ovah n ovah…and its not just “i hate black”..this is an elaborate wicked master scheme…and we’re the targets…
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