Sandra Bland's sister says white cop bullied her over ‘bruised ego’
The family of an African-American woman, who was violently arrested by a white police officer and later died in jail earlier this month, says she was bullied by the overzealous officer because she "bruised his ego."
Sharon Cooper, the sister of Sandra Bland, accused Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia on Wednesday of setting the deadly chain of events in motion by "picking on her" and using unnecessary force.
"I'm infuriated, and everyone else should be infuriated," Cooper said in a news conference after accompanying her sister's body on a flight home from Waller County, Texas, to Chicago, Illinois.
Bland, 28, was found hanged in her prison cell from an apparent suicide three days after her July 10 arrest, authorities said.
A police dashboard video released on Tuesday shows how a routine traffic stop escalated into a verbal and physical confrontation between Encinia and Bland.
The video shows the officer threatening Bland with a taser before arresting her. “I will light you up,” the trooper said, pointing the stun gun at her.
Some legal experts, who reviewed the video, believe Bland, who was moving to Hempstead, Texas from the Chicago area to begin a new job at a local University, should never have been arrested.
“This whole thing could have been avoided,” said Christopher Cooper, a former Washington police officer, civil rights lawyer and a recognized expert in police conflict resolution.
Cooper accused the law enforcement officer for reacting improperly to her sister's defense of her civil rights.
"In looking at video, seen in its entirety, Sandy pulled over for failure to indicate a proper lane change, I simply feel like the officer was picking on her," Bland’s sister said. "Point blank. Period."
Cooper said she was "disgusted that we're even having a discussion" about it, "because she was pulled over, for something so insignificant, and because of an officer who felt like maybe his ego was bruised."
Authorities from the Texas Department of Public Safety said last week that the trooper was placed on administrative leave for violating procedures and the department’s courtesy policy during the traffic stop.
Civil rights activists have raised questions about the role race may have played in her arrest and death in a county with a long history of racial tensions.
Her death was the latest in a series of deadly encounters between unarmed African-Americans and white police officers that have sparked protests in many cities.
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