Foul Play Suspected in Sandra Bland Death

Foul Play Suspected in Sandra Bland Death

County “Attacked” after Arrest of Sandra Bland

African-American woman Sandra Bland, who was arrested for assault on a public servant on 10 July, has been found dead in her Texas jail cell three days after her arrest. Authorities claim the death was a suicide, but activists suspecting foul play have led to an investigation by Texas Rangers.

28-year-old Bland was pulled over by police in Waller County after failing to indicate when changing lanes. After a disagreement with an officer, Bland was arrested. The legality of her arrest is currently being debated worldwide. 

Dash-cam footage of Bland’s arrest shows her initially being ticketed for failing to signal. When Bland refuses to put out her cigarette, the officer asks her to step outside of the car. “I don’t have to get out of the car … you don’t have the right to do that,” Bland can be heard saying. The officer, now appearing extremely frustrated, says “I’m going to yank you out of here” as he pulls Bland from her car.

After Bland is removed, separate footage from a bystander shows Bland being slammed into the ground by two officers. “You just slammed my head into the ground. Do you not even care about that? I can’t even hear.” Bland, who is now crying, yells that she has epilepsy, to which the officer replies “good”.

Online records show that Bland was admitted to the Waller County jail on 10 July and was being held at $5000 bail. She was found hanging in her cell three days later.

An autopsy performed the following day found that the cause of death was self-inflicted asphyxiation. However, her family claim Bland was not suicidal. 

Jail intake forms state that Bland told jailers she had attempted suicide last year after losing her baby. A suicide assessment form, however, says that Bland had not had suicidal thoughts in the past year and did not have suicidal thoughts at the time of her arrest. 

An assistant district attorney, Warren Diepraam, has said that the autopsy found no sign of defensive injuries on Bland’s hands. The only abrasions present were those on her wrist, which were consistent with the struggle while she was being handcuffed.

Diepraam also found that there were 30 cuts on Bland’s wrists, with the healing suggesting that these were made between two and four weeks before the incident. Bland also had marijuana in her system, though it is not known when it was ingested.

Waller county judge Trey Duhon responded strongly in a press conference, claiming that the controversy on social media has led to the county being “literally attacked”.

Bland’s death has re-sparked yet another race debate in America. Multiple cases of white officers unfairly treating African-Americans have emerged in the past few years, one of which caused riots in Boston in early 2015.

This article first appeared in Issue 18, 2015.
Posted 11:28am Sunday 2nd August 2015 by Oliver Gaskell.