Does the Sandra Bland story outrage you?

[On Guard for Thee]

The cigarette is a red herring. He didn't like her attitude. Maybe it made him suspicious that she was hiding something. So he likely asked her to put out the cigarette preparatory to asking her to get out of the car. All of which he was perfectly entitled to do.

No he is not. Not liking her attitude means squat.

[On Guard for Thee]

Yes, but it wasn't his asking her to exit the car which put him on administrative duty. It was violating procedure with regard to how he treated people, as I understand it. He escalated too much too fast and was too verbally aggressive.

It was all of the above.

[blueblood]

He has already been at her window with his head inside collecting her docs. How did he not catch the smell of alcohol then? Unless you think she was dumb enough to take a swig of whiskey while he was checking the paperwork.

Umm the lit cigarette? They tend to stink.

Im not arguing that he lost his shit when he should not have.

Edited August 7, 2015 by blueblood

[On Guard for Thee]

Umm the lit cigarette? They tend to stink.

Im not arguing that he lost his shit when he should not have.

She wasn't smoking at the beginning of the stop. Don't you think it probably likely that a cop might have his "antenna" active right at the start?

[blueblood]

She wasn't smoking at the beginning of the stop. Don't you think it probably likely that a cop might have his "antenna" active right at the start?

Well it definetely got clouded by the smoke now didnt it.

[On Guard for Thee]

Well it definetely got clouded by the smoke now didnt it.

What got clouded was the cops discretion. He lost it without valid reason, at least as it shows in the video.

[Rue]

On Guard you make a lot of assumptions for someone with no evidence. How do you know when she lit her cigarette.

The cigarette with due respect is not a red herring Argus. There is a reason even before the smoking laws when mental patients were given cigarettes it was done under controlled circumstances with only certain patients or when doing mediations with violent people they had to go outside to smoke. When you work with potentially explosive people a cigarette is a danger.I know that seems trite but its true. You get one in the eye it blinds you. Its happened. I know to prison guards it happened to. Problem is with people they can bit or use a pen or virtually anything which is why if you are in certain and people are emotional you consider a lot of potential risks that to an ordinary person might seem trite. The officer raised his voice at one point when he shouldn't have but the women dug her own grave.

One criticism is he could have waited for a back up. I think he should have. I think he thought the camera covered him in the event of a complaint but I would have waited for back up. But its easy to second guess. We are all arm chair geniuses after the fact.

[Rue]

Yes its standard protocol during an internal investigation. Lots of people get sued. Doesn't mean the case has merit. You sound ready to lynch him.

I bet you cheered when Frankenstein burned in the house too. Easy now. Sorry to disappoint you but to sue him for what he did is what is called frivolous and vexatious. In the US people are very quick to sue. It doesn't mean diddle swat. To you of course you find guilt and liability very quickly when the person wears a uniform. Interesting you show a bias towards cops that is for me no different in stereotyping than what people do with blacks.

For me cops because of their uniform, are stereotyped no differently than blacks are because of their skin colour. Too many people rushing to judgement based on superficial stereotypes and assumptions what both mean.

[Rue]

There is zero proof this woman was profiled. Again its easy to make accusations of racism and profiling without proof but the law requires proof.

In this case the earlier stop shows no racist attitude, just a cop doing his job and rather routinely and politely. There is not a shred of evidence he profiled this woman or treated her the way she did because she was black. Not a shred.

This assumption some of you can throw out the race card simply because a black is involved is a crock.

[Rue]

Guard you are wrong once again in your contention that smoking would interfere with a toxicology report from a blood test as to her cause of death.

Nicotine does not mask causes of death or other drugs it simply shows nicotine in the blood and probably not that much if she was not a chain smoker.

[blueblood]

Guard you are wrong once again in your contention that smoking would interfere with a toxicology report from a blood test as to her cause of death.

Nicotine does not mask causes of death or other drugs it simply shows nicotine in the blood and probably not that much if she was not a chain smoker.

I was saying that the smoke from the cigarette would have covered up a smell of booze or pot which is evidence of someone driving under influence. I would say the sudden lane change started it as vids on cops show drunk drivers all over the road then you get an angry person lighting up a smoke. Maybe they're drunk or high... Interesting was that there was thc in the body which you can only tell im guessing with a blood test.

[On Guard for Thee]

Guard you are wrong once again in your contention that smoking would interfere with a toxicology report from a blood test as to her cause of death.

Nicotine does not mask causes of death or other drugs it simply shows nicotine in the blood and probably not that much if she was not a chain smoker.

Not sure why you are telling ME this.

[PIK]

Maybe the cop had a lit cig flicked into his face at one time. And being black getting pulled over by a texas trooper, she should have just put it out and she would be alive. I always do what they say, get my ticket and go. But one time a rookie stopped me (Christmas eve) in a spot check, and she told me she is going to give me a ticket for the closed case of beer I just bought and was on the floor of my truck. So we got into a argument and she was losing her cool. So I pulled our a camera and said give me a ticket and you can explain to the judge why you do not know the law. She said merry christmas and walked away. But I knew I was not going to get shot or hauled away.

[cybercoma]

And being black getting pulled over by a texas trooper, she should have just put it out and she would be alive.

So if she was white and pulled over she wouldn't have to put it out?

And besides, you have no support for this claim. A guy was shot by a cop for reaching for his license.

[WIP]

Since we've just passed the one year anniversary of the Michael Brown Shooting in Ferguson, the latest....largely unmentioned story (except in foreign media) has been the arrival of a few heavily armed right wing militia members who call themselves "Oath Keepers." They say they've come to Ferguson to stop looting and protect property....which is likely at least partially true, since rightwing thinking gives much greater regard for property rights than human rights. Oath Keepers Say They're Defending Ferguson; Others Say They're Not Helping

A local St. Louis reporter interviewed on the CBC Radio show: The Current, yesterday, said that the protests were winding down late that night when these clowns approached the crowd gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the Mike Brown shooting. Previously, they had been close to police lines and talking to police....so most of the crowd....including that reporter thought they were SWAT or some plainclothes police, since seeing police armed like soldiers and wearing body armor isn't an unusual sight in Ferguson these days! So, at least in the eyes of that reporter, the Oath Keepers didn't "calm things down" as they tried to claim in other interviews they were doing yesterday.

So WTF are the Oath Keepers and why are they important? It's not their numbers...they're still believed to be a relatively small group of right wing anti-government militia nuts scattered across America. But, in recent years there has been a growing number of these openly hostile gun fanatics running around proclaiming their 2nd amendment rights. Many of these Oathkeepers are former military, and there are claims that they have members among police forces. I predict that as things spiral out of control in the US in the coming years, the Oathkeepers will play the role of fascist goon squad that we see in countries like Ukraine...when after the US-engineered regime change, we all of a sudden discover that the "peaceful" demonstrators have an armed militant vanguard called the Pravy Sector, which at this moment threatens to overthrow the puppet Ukraine government in Kiev with the aid of other disgruntled right wing militias who aren't happy about their experiences and failures in attempting to re-conquer the Russian eastern provinces. With Oathkeepers running around and trying to intimidate demonstrators right in black communities in America, I don't think it's long before we see a reaction in the form of armed Black Panthers taking to the streets.

[Big Guy]

I too watched the coverage. This appears to be another self proclaimed "save America" group who are attempting to use the military as a justification for their presence. They do have interesting views:

http://oathkeepers.org

What I found even more interesting is what they are sworn "not to do!"

http://oathkeepers.org/oktester/declaration-of-orders-we-will-not-obey/

[Boges]

Thin Blue Line

http://news.yahoo.com/prosecutor-says-no-indictment-sandra-bland-jail-death-070623733.html

HEMPSTEAD, Texas (AP) — A grand jury decided that neither sheriff's officials nor jailers committed a crime in the treatment of a black woman who died in a Texas county jail last summer, but has not yet determined whether the state trooper who arrested her should face charges, a prosecutor said.

Prosecutor Darrell Jordan said Monday that the Waller County grand jury will return in January to consider whether to indict the trooper who arrested 28-year-old Sandra Bland in July.

The Chicago-area woman was pulled over July 10 for making an improper lane change. Dashcam video showed the traffic stop quickly became confrontational, with trooper Brian Encinia at one point holding a stun gun and yelling at Bland, "I will light you up!" after she refused to get out of her car.

Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw has said Encinia — who in June completed a year-long probationary stint as a new trooper and has been on administrative duty since Bland's death — violated internal policies of professionalism and courtesy

[PIK]

If she out ity out, she would be alive today. And how do we know if maybe at another stop a cig was flicked into his face. But a black person giving a texas trooper a hard time, she should have known better.

[jacee]

Because she's Black, PIK?

Why should that matter? :/

And what's 'out ity out'?

Perjury charge against arresting cop

HEMPSTEAD, Texas - The indictment and expected firing of the Texas state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland, a black woman who later died in jail, are "bittersweet" for her sister.

Sharon Cooper told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she sees the perjury charge against Trooper Brian Encinia as long overdue, but also that the charge doesn't come close to equaling her family's loss. Bland was found hanging in her jail cell three days after her arrest, in what authorities have ruled a suicide.

Cooper said what happened to her sister was "largely impacted" by the encounter with Encinia.

"It could easily have been avoided," she said.

Encinia was indicted Wednesday on allegations that he lied when he claimed in an affidavit that Bland was "combative and unco-operative" after he pulled her over during a July traffic stop and ordered her out of her car. The grand jury identified that affidavit in charging Encinia with perjury ...

Edited January 7, 2016 by jacee

[Hal 9000]

Because she's Black, PIK?

Why should that matter? :/

And what's 'out ity out'?

Perjury charge against arresting cop

HEMPSTEAD, Texas - The indictment and expected firing of the Texas state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland, a black woman who later died in jail, are "bittersweet" for her sister.

Sharon Cooper told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she sees the perjury charge against Trooper Brian Encinia as long overdue, but also that the charge doesn't come close to equaling her family's loss. Bland was found hanging in her jail cell three days after her arrest, in what authorities have ruled a suicide.

Cooper said what happened to her sister was "largely impacted" by the encounter with Encinia.

"It could easily have been avoided," she said.

Encinia was indicted Wednesday on allegations that he lied when he claimed in an affidavit that Bland was "combative and unco-operative" after he pulled her over during a July traffic stop and ordered her out of her car. The grand jury identified that affidavit in charging Encinia with perjury ...

Stating that she was "combative and uncooperative" is an opinion. And in the police officer's opinion, that's exactly what she was being. You can be indicted on anything, but it's gonna be hard to prove that he lied.

Edited January 7, 2016 by Hal 9000

[GostHacked]

Stating that she was "combative and uncooperative" is an opinion. And in the police officer's opinion, that's exactly what she was being. You can be indicted on anything, but it's gonna be hard to prove that he lied.

That is why they hate cameras in their faces.

[eyeball]

Stating that she was "combative and uncooperative" is an opinion. And in the police officer's opinion, that's exactly what she was being. You can be indicted on anything, but it's gonna be hard to prove that he lied.

Not with video evidence.

The difference between your opinion and a cop's is that the cop's is taken to be and given to be later in testimony, a trained observation. Your own turn of phrase; And in the police officer's opinion, that's exactly what she was being. Exactly is a pretty strong word and when used in the way you have and apparently expect it to be applied in testimony as evidence, it carry's the weight of being virtually factual.

Digital recording changes everything. Given the overzealousness that appears to be common to many government departments and agencies now, especially those related to enforcement, every human should be wired for their own protection. Think of your own camera as being like an individual immunization and with enough people thusly wired it becomes analogous to herd immunity.

[Argus]

That is why they hate cameras in their faces.

She looked combative and uncooperative to me.

[Boges]

She looked combative and uncooperative to me.

Probably annoyed that she was getting grief that a white person likely wouldn't get.