Bland was taken to the Waller County Jail that day and was found dead in her cell on July 13. Her death was ruled a suicide.
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The post Texas trooper involved with Sandra Bland arrest indicted on perjury charges appeared first on PBS NewsHour. DPS also made the right call to fire Encinia, something that TOP has been calling for since Bland’s death.
A Texas grand jury has indicted the trooper who arrested black activist Sandra Bland on July 10, 2015. A medical examiner ruled her death a suicide caused by asphyxiation.
“It could easily have been avoided”, she said.
“The statement in the probable cause statement is that Officer Encinia pulled her out of her vehicle to further the traffic stop investigation”, Jordan said.
Still unresolved is whether the Texas Department of Public Safety trooper who arrested her should face charges.
Requests for comment from Encinia’s attorney were not immediately answered. Protesters linked Bland to other black suspects who were killed in confrontations with police or died in police custody, including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Freddie Gray in Baltimore.
Bland was pulled over on July 10 by Encinia for failing to signal a lane change in Prairie View, about 80 kilometres northwest of Houston. “I’m going to light you up”. Bland also accused him of slamming her head to the ground. A verbal and physical altercation ensued between Bland and Encinia.
The Chicago-area woman had remained jailed following her arrest because she couldn’t raise about $500 for bail.
“The indictment was issued in reference to the reason that he removed her from her vehicle”, a special prosecutor appointed to handle the case told reporters yesterday on the Waller County courthouse steps. Bland’s family has objected to that version of events, and many feel that official details about Bland’s time in jail – from her mental health evaluation, to the autopsy report and booking documents – left questions unanswered.
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The penalty for perjury, a Class A misdemeanor, is up to a year in jail and up to a $4,000 fine. Bland was charged with assaulting an officer, a felony.
