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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGrand Jury Decides Not To Indict Anyone For Sandra Bland’s Death (but, NO war on women!!!)
Grand Jury Decides Not To Indict Anyone For Sandra Blands Death
A grand jury decided on Monday not to indict anyone in connection with Sandra Blands death in a Texas county jail last summer. The grand jury will reconvene next month to take up remaining issues, including whether or not state trooper Brian Encinia the officer who arrested Bland should face criminal charges.
via Light Brigading
After reviewing all the evidence in the death of Sandra Bland, a Waller grand jury did not return an indictment in the death of Bland, nor were any indictments returned against any employee of the Waller County Jail, said Darrell Jordan, one of five special prosecutors handling the case.
Bland is the 28-year-old African American woman who died in police custody in July. Authorities initially ruled it a suicide, but after pressure from the Bland family and the public which spread news of the death using the hashtags #JusticeForSandy and #WhatHappenedToSandraBland the Waller County, Texas District Attorney announced that the death would be investigated as a homicide.
Right now the biggest problem I have is the entire process. Its the secrecy of it all, said Geneva Reed-Veal, Blands mother, at a press conference after the grand jurys decision. I simply cant have faith in a system thats not inclusive of my family. Were supposed to have an investigation to show us whats happening. We know what weve been listening to in the media but we dont have any real evidence.
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In the footage of Blands arrest, Encinia yells I will light you up! after threatening to drag Bland out of the vehicle. Bland can be heard telling him, Dont touch me. Im not under arrest. As the traffic stop escalates, she is also heard saying, you slammed my head into the ground, do you even care about that? I cant even hear.
What happened to Sandra Bland is outrageous, said Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal. She should never have been ordered to leave her car in the first place and never have been arrested. This was a minor traffic violation that the officer escalated because he was challenged by a Black woman who knew her rights. How many more Black and Latino people have to die before we make fundamental change in police recruitment and training, and overhaul a justice system that is permitting police brutality with impunity?
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http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/12/22/grand-jury-decides-not-to-indict-anyone-for-sandra-blands-death/
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)TipTok
(2,474 posts)IOW, something to cast doubt on it being anything other than a suicide?
niyad
(113,370 posts)TipTok
(2,474 posts)... not as much about why it was anything beyond a suicide once she was in her cell.
Also, didn't she admit to previous attempts in the past? All a bit fuzzy...
niyad
(113,370 posts)TipTok
(2,474 posts)Lots of speculation... Nothing concrete ever seemed to come up...
Like I said, lots of talk about the stop. Not so much about her time in the cell other than her admission of depression and previous suicide attempts during in-processing.
KingFlorez
(12,689 posts)The family did a second autopsy, but opted not to release the results of it, so I'm not sure there was much more than a suicide that occurred here.
TipTok
(2,474 posts)She appears to have been unwell based on the evidence at hand...w
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)it is not about war on women (it is real) but about control of minorities, through the judicial system.