Sandra Bland: With The Full 52 Minute Tape, The Thug Cop's Wrongdoing Is Clear
We don't have laws that demand you speak in a cheery and kowtowing tone to a cop.
Yet, not doing that seems to be what led to Bland's arrest and subsequent death in jail -- maybe with a few scoops of DWB: Driving While Black.
Ty Burr posts the 52-minute video and the story at the Boston Globe -- the parts of the story you probably haven't seen or heard:
The second [half of the story] comes several minutes later, the camera continuing to record as Bland's car is searched, and Encinia, sitting in his vehicle, can be heard discussing the incident with his sergeant. Here is where we hear the trooper revise the narrative of what has just occurred, unconsciously or not, so that he can come out the level-headed good guy.At 23:35 on the tape, he says "I tried to de-escalate her and I wasn't getting anywhere at all. . . . I tried talking to her, calming her down, and that was not working. I'm trying to get her detained, trying to get her to calm down, just calm her down, stop throwing your arms around. She never swung at me, just flailing, stomping around, and I said, all right, that's enough, and that's when I detained her."
This is in flagrant contradiction of everything we've just witnessed; it is, quite simply, a lie. At no time did Trooper Encinia attempt to "de-escalate" the situation with Bland. On the contrary, he pushed it forward until it exploded -- until he exploded.
Still talking with his supervisor, Encinia is heard reading the definitions of "assault" and "resisting arrest," trying to decide which charge would best fit. 27:00: "I kinda lean toward assault rather than resist. I mean, technically, she's under arrest when the traffic stop is initiated. You're not free to go. I didn't say 'you're under arrest,' 'stop, hands up.' That did not occur. There was just the assault part."
Welcome to American roadside justice, where you're arrested the moment you're pulled over and they figure out what for later. 33:58: Encinia is laughing by now. The sergeant apparently asks if he was hurt in the incident. "I got some cuts on my hand," he replies. "I guess it is an injury. I don't need medical attention. I got three little circles from I guess the handcuffs when she was twisting away from me." This will later morph into further proof that Bland assaulted Encinia. Again the trooper insists, "I only took enough force as seemed necessary -- I even de-escalated once we were on the pavement."
He seems to believe it by now. It sounds good, true, strong. He has convinced himself he's a decent guy. That he did the right thing.
Absolute abuse of power.
Here's the 52-minute tape, starting with Texas state trooper Brian Encinia's chatty warning to the woman he pulled over before Bland:
This is in flagrant contradiction of everything we've just witnessed; it is, quite simply, a lie.
THIS would be a quite accurate summary of the whole thing.
Still, folks will only see what they want to see. If only she would have...not been black?
Who's worse, Encinia for twisting the whole story, or his supervisors and peers, who don't admit that his story reeks?
DrCos at July 26, 2015 9:29 AM
Thanks for the link Amy. That was a good piece.
This is in flagrant contradiction of everything we've just witnessed; it is, quite simply, a lie. At no time did Trooper Encinia attempt to "de-escalate" the situation with Bland. On the contrary, he pushed it forward until it exploded -- until he exploded.
Absolutely. "Until he exploded" is spot-on. His power-encrusted ego couldn't abide a young woman -- and a young black woman at that -- refusing to kowtow to his cigarette request. If I had been in her situation, I would have been as dumbfounded as she was to be ordered out of the car simply because I refused to put out my cigarette.
I don't think he was intentionally trying to provoke her -- I think it was that he just couldn't stand her refusing to kiss his Texas trooper ass -- but his comments prior to asking her to put out her cigarette -- "You okay?", "You seem very irritated", "Are you done?" -- did seem like little jabs, so maybe he was trying to get a rise out of her.
At least Encinia could've been a man about it and been honest when explaining what happened: "I asked her to put out her cigarette and she refused, saying she was in her car and didn't have to. Her refusal to do that really pissed me off so I then immediately ordered to her to get out of the car and threatened to 'light her up' with my taser when she didn't comply." Instead, he lies about it. He doesn't man up; he weasels.
Thug. Asshole. Weasel.
JD at July 26, 2015 11:59 AM
I've not seen much about this, but she killed herself, right? No one made her do that. I've been in jail. I didn't hang myself. Her death is on her.
The question of whether she should have been arrested is another one, but the trooper didn't cause her death and her arrest didn't lead to her death.
*Apologies if she didn't kill herself, It's possible I'm mixing up bits of 2 different news stories*
momof4 at July 26, 2015 12:22 PM
" her arrest didn't lead to her death. "
Unfortunately, it did. It is unlikely she would have killed herself had she not been in that cell.
Matt at July 26, 2015 1:37 PM
Problem is momof4
If they are willing to lie about such a piddly little thing to arrest her for, why wouldnt they lie about the circumstances of her death?
lujlp at July 26, 2015 2:28 PM
Saw this on another blog and saw from Snopes it happened in May 2009. Cop (Krawetz) kicked a handcuffed sitting down woman in the head.
"Krawetz was suspended without pay and subsequently tried for assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the incident; he was convicted in March 2012, after which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison (with all 10 years of the sentence being suspended) and ordered to attend mental health counseling: "
Amazing that he is probably a cop somewhere. Kids should be taught that the second thing they don't want to see (a group of guys heading their way) is an agitated cop.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/krawetz.asp
Bob in Texas at July 26, 2015 6:10 PM
You know that cops are allowed to lie as part of their job, right? I'm thinking this might be too liberal an interpretation of that. Probably should make it that all non-under cover cops cannot lie as part of their job. Or maybe just traffic cops? A police force with a dedication to honesty would not be a bad thing.
Matt at July 26, 2015 10:27 PM
"It is unlikely she would have killed herself had she not been in that cell."
Not necessarily true. As I understand things she had a history of depression and had attempted suicide in the past. So she might have gone somewhere else and offed herself.
But all of that is really beside the point. Once they took her into custody they assumed responsibility for her. Even if she wanted to kill herself it was their responsibility to prevent that. A responsibility they failed.
Ben at July 27, 2015 6:42 AM
She probably should not have been arrested in the first place, but it's really a separate issue from her death. As I understand it, she had a history of depression and past suicide attempts, although her family denies this (there were videos online of her discussing her depression and suicide attempts). On her jail intake form she said she was not depressed or suicidal. Therefore, she did not qualify for suicide watch and gets checked once an hour instead of every 15 minutes or kept in a windowed cell where she can be seen continuously. If (a big if) they followed that and checked her hourly, I don't see this as them being responsible for her death if she lied about her mental state in the first place. And slightly off topic, but why the hell did nobody bail her out after three days and numerous calls to friends and family for help?
BunnyGirl at July 27, 2015 3:55 PM
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