Grand Jury Decides Not To Indict Anyone For Sandra Bland’s Death (but, NO war on women!!!)

[niyad]

Grand Jury Decides Not To Indict Anyone For Sandra Bland’s Death


A grand jury decided on Monday not to indict anyone in connection with Sandra Bland’s 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. It’s the secrecy of it all,” said Geneva Reed-Veal, Bland’s mother, at a press conference after the grand jury’s decision. “I simply can’t have faith in a system that’s not inclusive of my family. We’re supposed to have an investigation to show us what’s happening. We know what we’ve been listening to in the media … but we don’t have any real evidence.”

. . . .

In the footage of Bland’s arrest, Encinia yells “I will light you up!” after threatening to drag Bland out of the vehicle. Bland can be heard telling him, “Don’t touch me. I’m 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 can’t 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?”

. . .

http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/12/22/grand-jury-decides-not-to-indict-anyone-for-sandra-blands-death/

[bigwillq]

1. Kick (nt)

[niyad]

2. . . .

[TipTok]

3. Did they ever come out with anything concrete about what happened in the cell?

IOW, something to cast doubt on it being anything other than a suicide?

[niyad]

4. there was plenty in the coverage at the time.

[TipTok]

5. I remember lots of talk about the stop...

... 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]

6. google is your friend

[TipTok]

7. I did google...

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]

9. There was quite a bit of speculation in this case

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]

10. That's what I found as well...

She appears to have been unwell based on the evidence at hand...w

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Slightly different take

it is not about war on women (it is real) but about control of minorities, through the judicial system.

[niyad]

11. it is that as well