Texas Department of Public Safety has released the full, 52-minute, unedited dash cam video footage of Sandra Bland’s arrest. The video shows her being pulled over for a traffic violation and the subsequent volatile encounter that led to her arrest.
Bland was later found dead, hanging from the ceiling in her jail cell a few days later.
State trooper Brian Encinia stopped Bland after he says she failed to signal a lane change. Their interaction begins around 8:45, where Encinia asks Bland if she’s “OK” and notes that she seems irritated. Bland confirms that she is and explains that it’s because Encinia was tailing her for a while, so she moved out of his way, and he ends up pulling her over.
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After Encinia asks Bland to put her cigarette out and she refuses, he asks her to step out of the car, and that’s when things begin to escalate quickly. “I am going to yank you out of here,” Encinia says as he moves to grab her. Bland again refuses, and Encinia tells her that she’s under arrest. When Bland asks why, Encinia draw his Taser and shouts, “Get out of the car! I will light you up.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=CBh3wzXd3vg
While the video doesn’t capture the actual arrest — that takes place beyond the view of the camera — you can hear Bland saying that Encinia is hurting her wrists after being forced down on the ground. You can also hear Bland crying.
The video has some glitches — which has prompted many to question whether it was edited by the police department before being uploaded. The footage appears to have been repeated at around minutes 25 and minute 33, creating even more questions about this already furiously questioned tragedy.
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Bland was taken to jail and a few days later was found hanging in her cell the day she was to be released on bond. Despite an autopsy report that states Bland died of “self-inflicted asphyxiation,” local authorities have said they are looking into her death as if it were a homicide.
Sandra Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, does not believe her daughter’s death was a suicide and has repeatedly said so publicly. At a memorial service for her daughter, Reed-Veal addressed the crowd. “There is not anywhere I could see that my baby took her own life,” she said. She also made it clear that she will continue to fight for truth and justice in her daughter’s death. “Once I put this baby in the ground, I’m ready. … This means war.”
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UPDATE: The Texas Department of Public Safety has uploaded a new video of the Sandra Bland arrest after accusations of editing. This one is three minutes shorter, and it’s still missing a timecode customary on police videos:
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