Death of Sandra Bland

Sandra Bland Sandra Annette Bland (February 7, 1987 – July 13, 2015) was from Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and was one of five sisters. She attended Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, Illinois and graduated in 2005, then Prairie View A&M University outside Hempstead in Waller County, Texas, where she was a member of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority. She graduated in 2009 with a degree in agriculture. At Prairie View, she was recruited as a summer counselor for three years, played in the marching band, and volunteered for a senior citizens advocacy group. She has been described as a civil rights activist in Chicago, and a part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Brian Encinia Brian Encinia was 30 years old at the time of the incident, and is listed in Texas voter records as Hispanic. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 2008 with a degree in agricultural leadership and development. ==Traffic stop==

Encinia had a history of performing pretextual traffic stops, having issued 1,600 mostly minor tickets in less than 12 months, using the pretext of little-enforced minor infractions to then perform random searches in the hope of finding something criminal. He began following Bland in Prairie View, Texas on the afternoon of , 2015, where he pulled her over on University Drive for failure to signal a lane change. In a series of events recorded by his dashcam, along with a bystander and Bland herself, Encinia spoke to Bland, and the interaction became heated; he told her to get out of the car, she refused, was threatened with a drawn Taser and the words "I will light you up", and exited the car. After they moved out of frame, he forced her on the ground, and arrested her. Parts of the video appeared to be edited, with images of cars and people appearing or vanishing on the road, while the audio of Encinia's voice proceeded without interruption. A DPS spokesperson said that irregularities in the video resulted from technical issues that occurred when the video was posted. DPS then took down the problem video and replaced it with another version. The footage shows that Encinia's tone and attitude change after he asks if Bland is irritated and she answers affirmatively. He initially wrote a routine traffic violation warning for Bland after she moved over but did not signal to let him pass since he was tailing her closely. After he returns to her car and speaks briefly to her again, he asks her to put out her cigarette. She responds, "Why do I have to put out a cigarette when I'm in my own car?" and, when she repeatedly refuses to exit, he tells her she is under arrest. Bland repeatedly asks why she is under arrest, and Encinia responds, "I am giving you a lawful order." before he tries to pull her out. After struggling, he draws his Taser and points it at Bland, Sandra Bland also recorded the arrest on her own cell phone; that video became public in 2019, and was not part of the civil trial evidence. Officers took her to the Waller County Jail and placed her in a cell alone because they deemed her a high risk to others. ==Incarceration and death==

Bland's bail was set at $5,000. According to a statement from the jail officials, she had been given multiple opportunities to find someone who could post bond including a man she was staying with in Texas who "ignored her calls". Her bondsman also made several attempts to secure bail. Her family later stated they were attempting to secure the 10 percent ($500) needed to secure her release. On , authorities released several hours of video showing Bland at various times during her jail stay, including arriving at the jail, having her mug shot taken, and making phone calls (see ). They said the footage was being released to dispel rumors and conspiracy theories, including that she was dead before she arrived at the jail and that her mug shot was taken after her death. At a news conference, Waller County Judge Trey Duhon said that such rumors have resulted in death threats against county officials: "Because of some of the things that's [ ⁠sic ⁠] gone out on social media, this county has been literally attacked." Duhon said the FBI was investigating the most serious threats. Alexandria Pyle, an inmate held in the adjacent cell, later told the media that Bland seemed "sort of distraught", was very emotional, and was crying frequently. Pyle, who spoke to Bland through a tiny chute, said Bland was upset that her friend had not come to bail her out. Pyle stated that she never heard any loud noise or commotion that would indicate foul play in Bland's death. Discovery by jailer Police stated that at on , Bland refused breakfast, and a half-hour later told a jailer "I'm fine." The video shows no movement in and out of the cell from 7:34 to , her discovery by a female officer at that time, and resuscitation procedures being performed on Bland's body. Harris County autopsy An autopsy conducted by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science concluded that Bland died through asphyxiation, and classified her death as a suicide. and 25 to 30 healing, parallel cuts on her left forearm that predated her arrest. Toxicology An initial toxicology report released by the Harris County medical examiner's office found "a remarkably high concentration" of THC for someone who had been in jail for three days, leading to speculation that Bland may have had access to marijuana while in jail. Waller County assistant district attorney, Warren Diepraam said that it was more likely that Bland had ingested a very large amount of marijuana prior to her arrest. A toxicologist for the Tarrant County medical examiner's office agreed, indicating a THC level as high as Bland's suggests she "either had access to the drug in jail or she was a consistent user of the drug and her body had accumulated THC to the point that it was slowly releasing it over time." But he added: "I have never seen a report in the literature or from any other source of residual THC that high three days after someone stops using the drug." Other experts disputed the significance of a single test result from a sample taken after death, explaining that marijuana science is not well-developed and that county officials may have been exaggerating the importance of Bland's THC blood level, which Columbia University researcher Carl Hart said was similar to the baseline blood level of a heavy marijuana user. Funeral Bland's funeral was held on at DuPage African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lisle, Illinois. ==Initial reactions==

Calls for independent investigation Family and friends called for an independent autopsy, and stated that it was unlikely Bland would have killed herself. In March, Bland posted a video to her Facebook page in which she said was suffering from "a little bit of depression as well as PTSD". Her sister said that Bland had no "medically diagnosed clinical depression", but had good and bad days. Cannon Lambert, the family's lawyer, stated that Bland's post in March gave little indication of her mindset around the time of her death. After three days, 200,000 people had tweeted her name. Protesters outside the jail where Bland died held vigils and demanded an explanation for her death. By , 2015, at least twelve protests had been held for Bland around the country. Protesters also asked why Bland had been stopped, and alleged racial profiling. After meeting with law enforcement and other officials to discuss the circumstances surrounding Bland's death, he said that "the kind of information disclosed on Bland's intake form should have prompted jail officials to place Bland on a suicide watch, meaning a face-to-face check on her welfare every 15 minutes instead of the hourly checks normally required." On , about 25 heavily armed members of the New Black Panther Party rallied at a Texas jail to protest Bland's death and expressed their rage at police. No arrests were made. In late August, the Prairie View City Council renamed part of University Drive as Sandra Bland Parkway. Bland's mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, spoke about Bland at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. On January 21, 2017, at the Women's March on Washington, singer and actress Janelle Monáe included Sandra Bland in her performance, evoking the audience to "Say [Bland's] name!" in addition to giving the Mothers of the Movement the microphone, including Bland's mother, to each say the name of their lost son or daughter. ==Official response and investigation==

The FBI and DPS announced on that they had launched an investigation into Bland's death. Encinia was placed on administrative duties for violating procedures for traffic stops, and was terminated by DPS following his indictment on perjury charges. Waller County Sheriff R. Glenn Smith, who runs the jail in which Bland died, has been placed in charge of Waller County's investigation into her death. Policy violations at jail According to CNN, a report from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, published on , found that Waller County jail "guards violated policies by failing to do timely checks on inmates," which should be hourly. On , county officials produced intake forms that they say indicate Bland had earlier attempted suicide. Another form filed by a different jail employee says Bland attempted suicide earlier, in 2014. One form indicates Bland had contemplated suicide within the past year, while another says she did not. R. Glenn Smith, the Waller County sheriff, stated that the jail staff may face disciplinary actions for their failures of not putting Bland on a suicide watch, not personally checking on her, and leaving the plastic bag that was fashioned into a noose. He said the actions "could range from suspensions to transfers to terminations". ==Further reactions==

In August 2015, the Prairie View City Council voted to rename the street Sandra was arrested on to "Sandra Bland Parkway." In March 2016, documents obtained from the forensic lab that performed Bland's autopsy suggested that the time of death was not that which was originally reported by official investigations and that this could raise questions about the validity of the original investigation. A report by the Harris County forensic investigator contradicted the official report of the Waller County Sheriff's Department about details of the condition of the body. In addition, the documents stating the time guards last observed Bland alive in her cell did not agree with the security video footage from the jail where Bland was detained, leaving a discrepancy of an hour. Brandon Wood, director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, said that the failure to observe inmates hourly as required by standards "could be criminal in nature." An attorney for the Bland family said that it might be just a clerical error, or might be something "more nefarious." Bland's mother Geneva Reed-Veal is a member of the Mothers of the Movement, bringing attention to police reform, Bland's story and the grief process of losing a child. The events surrounding Bland's death form the basis for much of Malcolm Gladwell's sixth book Talking to Strangers (2019). Sandra Bland's case returned to the public's attention in 2019 when her cell phone video became public for the first time. Her family's attorney said the case needed to be reopened in light of the new evidence. ==Legal proceedings==

Investigation into death and charges against Encinia In December 2015, a county grand jury declined to issue an indictment in connection to Bland's death. A special prosecutor said that "the case is still open", and that the grand jury would meet again in January 2016 to discuss other aspects. Those aspects were widely assumed to include Encinia's actions during the traffic stop, and Bland's family urged prosecutors to pursue criminal charges against him. Reconvening the following month, the grand jury indicted Encinia for perjury, a Class A misdemeanor with a possible penalty of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine. The charge resulted from his statement in an affidavit that his reason for removing Bland from her car was "to further conduct a safe traffic investigation". The grand jury found that statement to be false, according to a special prosecutor. Hours after the indictment was announced, DPS said they had begun the process to terminate Encinia's employment as a state trooper. After an arrest warrant was issued, Encinia surrendered at the Waller County Jail and was released after posting a $2,500 bond. His attorney said that he would appeal his termination, while Bland's family called for more serious criminal charges including battery and false arrest. On June 28, 2017, a judge granted a motion by prosecutors to dismiss the perjury charge against Encinia. In return, Encinia agreed that he would "never seek, accept or engage in employment in any capacity with law enforcement" He also agreed not to seek expungement of the perjury charge. Wrongful death lawsuit Bland's family filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit, and a jury trial in that case was scheduled for January 2017. The family sought unspecified damages from DPS, Encinia, Waller County, and two jailers. In September 2016, Bland's family settled the lawsuit for $1.9 million, according to her mother. Details remained to be worked out and the agreement still awaited court approval. Sandra Bland Act Texas Senate Bill 1849, also known as the Sandra Bland Act, went into effect on September 1, 2017, and mandated change to corrections and police policy when dealing with those with substance abuse or mental health concerns. S.B. 1849 "requires de-escalation training for police officers and mandates county jails divert people with mental health and substance abuse issues toward treatment, makes it easier for defendants to receive a personal bond if they have a mental illness or intellectual disability, and requires that independent law enforcement agencies investigate jail deaths". Police officers are required to complete comprehensive racial profiling training and forty hours of de-escalation training. Law enforcement agencies will maintain records documenting race or ethnicity of all persons detained and whether the officer knew the individual's race or ethnicity prior to being detained. In addition, police officers will undergo training to limit uses of force. All law enforcement agencies are required to provide education to the public concerning complaint procedures. County jails are required to collect information used to make a determination of mental illness or intellectual disability. A written assessment of collected information will be submitted to a magistrate and mental health expert if a potential substance abuse, mental illness or intellectual disability exists. If need arises and is reasonable, pending charges may be suspended and an individual may be diverted to a treatment facility. In the event of a death in custody, the custodial agency will begin an investigation until a representative of an outside agency is on scene. In addition, electronic monitoring will be in place to ensure timely security checks for the welfare of those incarcerated. == Tributes ==

On September 8, 2015, at the Library of Congress, the just-inducted United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, the Chicago-Mexican son band Sones de Mexico, and their songwriting class, cowrote the ballad "Corrida de Sandra Bland", in Spanish. Sones de Mexico performed the song the next day. In September of 2017, authors Stephen King and Owen King dedicated their collaborative novel, Sleeping Beauties in remembrance of Sandra Bland. In 2018, filmmakers Kate Davis and David Heilbroner released the HBO documentary film Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland. Say Her Name is also the title of a painting by the artist Jennifer Packer created in response to Bland's death. == See also ==