Black woman "kills herself" after arrest over traffic signal

[Nate4]

This country is fucked up, man.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/nytnow/online-campaign-questions-official-account-of-sandra-bland-death.html?smid=tw-nytimes

http://abc7chicago.com/news/road-trip-for-suburban-woman-ends-in-jailhouse-death/853139/

https://twitter.com/Bipartisanism/status/621718126225305600

[Juliajms]

I wonder what really happened. I'm also sad that the days when I take the official word as the truth are long over. I mean, it could be true, but I have my doubts.

[ChitHappens]

What really happened? They beat her to death! Witnesses say they yanked her thru the window of her car and slammed her to the ground.

Folks want to slam Grande for saying she hates America? What's to be proud of. We have regressed back to the 60s and black people are not safe. That sickens me.

This could have been me

RIP Miss Bland :(

[GMac]

WTF is happening to this country?!?! This makes me sick.

[marceline]

There's nothing happening in this country that hasn't always been happening. The only change is that now the average citizen has the ability to document and share it. You've got to remember that the iPhone didn't even come out until 2007. Before that the cops never had to worry about their lies being refuted with proof. I recommend a site called fillmingcops.com. It's a bit strident in tone (Yeah, I know. That's funny coming from me.) but there are lots of videos from all over the country.

[GMac]

Thanks marce. I'll check it out.

[Juliajms]

I'm sorry Chit. I didn't mean to offend you. I didn't realize the initial incident was enough to kill her, since she was still talking. It does make sense that she might have died later from the head injury and than they tried to cover it up. What I was trying to say is I wonder if they purposefully murdered her once she was in the jail and then covered it up.

[ChitHappens]

Oh no. You are fine. It's just sickening, and as a black woman, this could easily be me. I can't imagine the horror this woman had to go thru and for her torturers to be law enforcement? That's just sick.

[DramatistDreamer]

Wasn't Texas also the same state where an elderly man from India was slammed against a sidewalk repeatedly and then ended up in Intensive Care, paralyzed from, like, the chest down? The cops claimed he looked suspicious when they saw the man wandering around the neighborhood. It turns out that the elderly Indian man was visiting his son and was unfamiliar with the neighborhood and got slightly disoriented while going for a morning walk. I wonder if he'd been an elderly white woman would the police have reacted this way? Sadly, I think I know the answer to that one.

The Sandra Bland tragedy truly makes me sad because like Chit expressed, there but for the grace of God go I. People used to laugh when I would talk about how unsafe I often felt if I were walking in a predominately white, affluent neighborhood and how I actually felt safer at night when I used to live in Harlem than many of the suburban areas. I felt as if something were to happen to me, no one would care and I wouldn't be able to call for help for fear of being seen as a perpetrator rather than a person in need of help.

The fear is real.

I just hope Bland's family gets some honest answers and some justice because it doesn't make sense how a person is arrested, rather than ticketed, for a relatively minor traffic violation. Someone in social media claimed she assaulted an officer allegedly kicked him but in the video, I saw a woman yelling, yes cursing, but asking why she was being slammed to the ground and hurt this way while screaming that she couldn't feel her arm. I also thought I heard her thanking the person taking the video footage for documenting it. I just hope we get some honest answers.

Sometimes in cases like these, I don't really feel like posting a comment, I force myself, but it truly is just too sad for words.

[cassadine1991]

It's so disturbing and disappointing that seems to be the norm now.

[Juliajms]

I think Marceline is right though. It was always the norm. Some people always knew it. Some of us didn't or didn't want to believe it, but the proof is right there for all to see with iphones. After watching that one officer gun down the man he said tried to take his taser, I will never look at the world the same again. That was cold blooded murder by an officer of the law. He even had the presence of mind to try to alter the scene seconds after shooting some one. Jesus take the wheel.

[alphanguy74]

There are so many cops that are assholes on a power trip. Meaning this: If you get stopped for a turn signal violation, SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH and don't give him any excuse to release his anger on you. It ain't worth it.

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[marceline]

These psychos don't need an excuse. They kill because they want to and expect to get away with it. See also: Tamir Rice.

[Nate4]

Uh, no. They're supposed to be obedient to the scary white man?

[alphanguy74]

They don't do it for thrills... someone sets them off. You simply do not light that fuse.

Hell yes!