‘I will light you up!': Texas officer threatened Sandra Bland with Taser during traffic stop

According to newly released police video, a Texas trooper threatened Sandra Bland with a Taser when he ordered her out of her vehicle during a traffic stop on July 10, three days before she was found dead in a county jail.

Bland — a 28-year old African American woman — was stopped for failing to signal while changing lanes, but the routine traffic stop turned confrontational after the officer, Brian Encinia, ordered Bland to put out her cigarette.

“Would you mind putting out your cigarette, please?” Encinia said.

“I’m in my car, why do I have to put out my cigarette?” Bland answered.

“Well, you can step on out now,” Encinia said.

Bland refused, saying she did not have to step out of the car.

[A trooper arrested Sandra Bland after she refused to put out a cigarette. Was it legal?]

Encinia opened the driver’s door and attempted to physically remove Bland from the vehicle.

“I’m going to yank you out of here,” Encinia said as the two struggled in the car. “I’m going to drag you out of here.”

“Don’t touch me, I’m not under arrest,” Bland said.

“I will light you up!” Encinia said, while pointing the Taser at Bland.

State Sen. Royce West (D) said that after viewing the video, he could confirm that Bland was threatened with a Taser by the officer.

Details of the confrontation were not included in the arrest warrant written by Encinia, which officials released Tuesday, 11 days after the arrest — and eight days after Bland’s death in the Waller County Jail.

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Her death was classified as suicide by hanging, but news of the suicide — which came amid growing outrage over police interactions with African Americans — has been met with skepticism by those who knew Bland, and even others who didn’t.

[Sandra Bland previously attempted suicide, jail documents say]

Members of Bland’s family appeared at a news conference on Wednesday in Illinois, where their lawyer emphasized that Bland showed no signs of depression. In fact, he said, she was excited to have just moved to Texas from the Chicago suburbs to start a new job.

“I can tell you that we take issue with the notion that she had depression,” said the attorney, Cannon Lambert Sr.

Lambert noted that the family was not aware that Bland had taken any medication for depression and was never clinically diagnosed — but that like many people had experienced “hills and valleys.”

At a closed-door meeting with political officials and law enforcement on Tuesday, they were told that Bland disclosed to the jailer that she had attempted suicide in the past year but was not suicidal at the time of her arrest, according to the Houston Chronicle. West, the state senator who also attended Tuesday’s meeting, confirmed to The Washington Post that the disclosure was discussed at the meeting. When people are admitted to Texas county jails, they undergo a mental health evaluation that asks about suicidal attempts and mental health issues.

[Report: In jail voicemail, Sandra Bland said she was ‘at a loss for words’]

When the family finally saw the dashcam video, it elicited “extraordinary” emotion, Lambert said.

“If you look at the dashcam, I think that you see right out of the gate … that this could have easily been avoided,” he said. “There was very little reason that could be gleaned from the dashcam why Sandy had to be asked to put her cigarette out, why Sandy had to be asked to get out the car, why Sandy had to be subjected to the officer pointing a Taser at her.”

The arrest warrant detailed Encinia’s version of events but does not mention the Taser, nor does it elaborate on why Encinia ordered Bland out of the vehicle.

During the incident, Bland repeatedly asks why she is being arrested. The remainder of the confrontation occurs outside the view of the camera, but the audio captured what appeared to be a struggle.

Bland is heard saying that the officer “just slammed my head to the ground.”

[What cops are saying about the Sandra Bland video]

Later, when a female officer arrives at the scene, Encinia tells her that Bland “started yanking away, then kicked me, so I took her straight to the ground.”

On Wednesday, authorities responded to allegations that the dashcam video had been edited from its original form. The video uploaded by state officials to YouTube contains visual sequences that appeared to repeat themselves.

The issues were most pronounced in a portion of the video where Encinia can be heard speaking to someone on the phone about the incident.

At one point, Encinia explains that he was trying to “de-escalate” the situation. In the video, a tow truck operator is seen walking out of the frame of the video, then that portion of the video plays again.

[Was video of Sandra Bland’s traffic stop edited? Texas authorities respond.]

A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety categorically denied that the 52-minute video had been altered and instead blamed a “technical issue” for the anomalies in the images.

“The video was not edited,” spokesman Tom Vinger told The Washington Post. “There was a technical issue during upload.”

The investigation into Bland’s jail-cell death is being treated “just as it would be in a murder investigation,” Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis said at a news conference Monday evening. Mathias clarified on Tuesday that it is standard practice for any suspicious death in police custody to be investigated this way.

“There are many questions being raised in Waller County, across the country and the world about this case. It needs a thorough review,” Mathis said, noting that the case “will go to a grand jury,” the Associated Press reported. The Texas Rangers, a division of the state Department of Public Safety, have launched an investigation into Bland’s death, with the supervision of the FBI.

“Our hearts and prayers remain with the Bland family for their tragic loss,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said in a statement Wednesday. “The family deserves answers. The Texas Rangers, working in coordination with the FBI, will conduct a full and thorough investigation that will deliver those answers and work toward the ultimate goal of ensuring justice in this case.”

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Wednesday that the FBI was continuing to monitor the Sandra Bland situation. She said that federal officials were awaiting the results from ongoing investigations being carried out by local authorities in Texas.

In his arrest warrant, Encinia wrote that Bland was pulled over for failing to signal a lane change and he “had Bland exit the vehicle to further conduct a safe traffic investigation.”

According to Encinia, “Bland became combative and uncooperative.”

“Numerous commands were given to Bland ordering her to exit the vehicle,” Encinia wrote. “Bland was removed from the car but became more combative.”

He added that Bland was handcuffed “for officer safety” but that she “began swinging her elbows at me and then kicked my right leg in the shin.” Encinia said he suffered from pain in his right leg and had small cuts on his right hand.

“Force was used to subdue Bland to the ground to which Bland continued to fight back,” he added.

Bland’s sister, Sharon Cooper, said Wednesday that the arrest was “petty” and probably motivated by the fact that Bland was from out of town.

“She was pulled over for something so insignificant because an officer felt that maybe his ego was bruised,” Cooper said at a news conference. “Not once did he ever say he was threatened.”

Bland was charged with assault on a public servant then booked in the Waller County Jail, where she later died.

“There are questions that need to be answered as it relates to the arrest,” noted West, who added that what transpired in the arrest would be part of the ongoing investigation.

Asked whether Bland deserved any blame for the events that led to her arrest and death, West replied: “No.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) cautioned that everyone should wait for the facts of the case to unfold before making a determination about blame.

“There’s a rush to judgment too often in America,” Patrick said at the news conference on Tuesday. “But here in Texas, I can tell you that we believe in total transparency, and we will find the truth wherever that leads.”

“If indeed she took her own life, that is a question that has to be asked,” he added.

Encinia, who has been a state trooper for about a year, was placed on administrative duty on Friday pending the outcome of the investigation, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety, which said that the officer violated the agency’s procedures during the traffic stop.

[Did Sandra Bland have a right to record her police confrontation? Maybe not.]

“Regardless of the situation, the DPS state trooper has an obligation to exhibit professionalism and be courteous,” said DPS Director Steve McCraw. “That did not happen in this situation.”

Bland’s immediate family members and their attorney met privately with Mathis and Waller County Judge Trey Duhon on Tuesday morning for what Duhon called a “very positive meeting” that lasted an hour.

“The family expressed some their concerns and the fact that they still have many questions that need to be answered,” Duhon said. “It was important to express to the family that my current administration and officials in Waller County are completely committed to an open and transparent investigative process.”

[A black woman was arrested after a traffic stop in Texas. Days later, she died in a jail.]

An autopsy from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences has classified Bland’s death as suicide by hanging, and the Waller County Sheriff’s Office, which administers the jail in which Bland died, said her death appeared to be from “self-inflicted asphyxiation.”

That determination was fiercely questioned by Bland’s family and friends,who said it was “unfathomable” that the woman they knew would take her own life. Bland’s family has called for an independent autopsy.

“It is very much too early to make any kind of determination that this was a suicide or a murder because the investigations are not complete,” Mathis told reporters.

Mathis noted that “there are too many questions that need to be resolved. Ms. Bland’s family does make valid points. She did have a lot of things going on in her life for good.”

Bland was moving from Illinois to Texas for a job at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University, when she was pulled over near the campus on July 10.

She “became argumentative and uncooperative” during the arrest, the Texas Department of Public Safety said last week, and was taken into custody by a state trooper on a charge of assault on a public servant. After a weekend in the Waller County Jail, Bland was found dead on the morning of July 13.

During Monday’s news conference, Mathis said investigators would look for DNA and fingerprint traces on the plastic bag that was used in her death.

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The Waller County Sheriff’s Office has now released video footage of the jail in which Bland died. The video does not show what happened in Bland’s cell, but it does capture who entered and exited that cell in the hours before and after her death, authorities said.

The video of the hours before Bland’s death, reviewed by CBS affiliate KHOU, shows an officer stop at her cell at just after 7 a.m. on July 13. The officer “visually noted she was in good health,” Capt. Brian Cantrell, a spokesman for the Waller County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters.

“Ms. Bland contacted the main control room, via intercom, at 7:55 a.m.,” Cantrell said. “Ms. Bland was inquiring on how to make a phone call.”

Just before 9 a.m., the video shows a female officer approach the cell, peer in, and then ask another officer for help.

“The jailer looked through the window and observed Ms. Bland hanging from her privacy partition in her cell,” Cantrell said. “I’d also like to reiterate that she was found in a semi-standing position with ligatures surrounding her neck. Ms. Bland was then placed on the floor for jailers to perform CPR.”

Cantrell described Bland’s death as “a tragic incident, not one of criminal intent or a criminal act.”

Wesley Lowery, Elahe Izadi and Mark Berman contributed to this post, which was originally published July 21 and has been updated multiple times.

BEIRUT (AP) — Turkish troops have shelled a Syrian village near the border, targeting Kurdish fighters who have been battling the Islamic State group with the aid of U.S.-led airstrikes, Syria's main Kurdish militia and an activist group said Monday.

The Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, said the Sunday night shelling on the border village of Til Findire targeted one of their vehicles. It said Til Findire is east of the border town of Kobani, where the Kurds handed a major defeat to the Islamic State group earlier this year.

In cross-border strikes since Friday, Turkey has targeted both Kurdish fighters as well as the IS group, stepping up its involvement in Syria's increasingly complex civil war. The Syrian Kurds are among the most effective ground forces battling the IS group, but Turkey fears they could revive an insurgency against Ankara in pursuit of an independent state.

On Monday the YPG and Syrian rebels captured the town of Sareen in northern Syria, which had been held by the Islamic State group, according to The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Aleppo Media Center in Syria, two activist groups that track the civil war.

A Turkish official said Turkish forces are only targeting the IS group in Syria and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in neighboring Iraq.

The official said the "ongoing military operation seeks to neutralize imminent threats to Turkey's national security and continues to target ISIS in Syria and the PKK in Iraq."

"The PYD, along with others, remains outside the scope of the current military effort," the official said, referring to the political arm of the YPG.

The official added that authorities were "investigating claims that the Turkish military engaged positions held by forces other than ISIS."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of rules that bar officials from speaking to journalists without authorization.

The YPG did not say in its Monday statement whether there were casualties in the shelling.

The YPG said Turkey first shelled Til Findire on Friday, wounding four fighters of the rebel Free Syrian Army and several local villagers. It urged Turkey to "halt this aggression and to follow international guidelines."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four fighters were wounded in the village of Zor Maghar, which is also close to the Turkish border. Conflicting reports are common in the aftermath of violent incidents.

Earlier this month, Syria's main Kurdish party, the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, warned Turkey that any military intervention would threaten international peace and said its armed wing, the YPG, would face any "aggression."

Turkish police meanwhile raided homes in a neighborhood in the capital on Monday, detaining at least 15 people suspected of links to the Islamic State group, the state-run news agency said.

The Anadolu Agency said those detained in Ankara's Haci Bayram neighborhood include a number of foreign nationals. It did not give details of the foreigners' home countries.

Turkey has been carrying out airstrikes against IS targets in Syria and Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq. It has also arrested hundreds of people with suspected links to violent extremists.

On Sunday, it called for a meeting of its NATO allies to discuss threats to its security, as well as its airstrikes.

In comments published Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey and the United States had no plans to send ground troops into Syria but said they had agreed to provide air cover to moderate Syrian fighters.

"If we are not going to send land units to the ground — and we will not — then those forces acting as ground forces cooperating with us should be protected," Davutoglu told a group of senior journalists over the weekend. His comments were published in Hurriyet newspaper.

Davutoglu also said Turkey wanted to clear its border of IS extremists.

"We don't want to see Daesh at our border," Hurriyet quoted Davutoglu as saying, using the Arabic acronym of the group. "We want to see the moderate opposition take its place."

The Turkish leader also said Turkey's action against the IS has "changed the regional game."

___

Frazer reported from Ankara, Turkey.

WSJ Live
North Korea Celebrates 'Victory Day'

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korean officials warned the United States that another war on the Korean Peninsula would leave no Americans alive to sign a surrender document as the country marked Monday's anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War more than six decades ago.

Pyongyang and other cities around North Korea were decked out with flags and banners as North Koreans flocked to patriotic gatherings and mass dance celebrations to mark the anniversary of the July 27, 1953, agreement that brought the three-year Korean war to an end with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

North Korean officials took the opportunity of the anniversary to step up their anti-U.S. rhetoric and call upon the nation to redouble its devotion to the nation's current leader, Kim Jong Un, the third leader in the Kim dynasty, and prepare for a final showdown with Washington.

The anniversary is hailed in North Korea as a victory over the U.S., which fought with the South Koreans and U.N. allies against the North's forces, who were supported by China and the Soviet Union.

In a speech to veterans on Saturday, Kim Jong Un stressed the importance of instilling the country's young people with the same fighting spirit and devotion as the generation that experienced the war. But he also stressed that North Korea has a new ace in the hole — a nuclear arsenal of its own.

"Gone forever is the era when the United States blackmailed us with nukes; now the United States is no longer a source of threat and fear for us and we are the very source of fear for it," he said in the speech, the text of which was broadcast on North Korean television.

At a separate gathering held Sunday, Korean People's Army Gen. Pak Yong Sik, who is believed to be the country's new defense minister, said that if the United States does not abandon its hostile policies toward Pyongyang and provokes another war, the North is prepared to fight until "there would be no one left to sign a surrender document."

"It is more than 60 years since the ceasefire on (the) land, but peace has not yet settled on it," he told the meeting, which included high-level officials, veterans and diplomats stationed in Pyongyang. "The past Korean War brought about the beginning of the downhill turn for the U.S., but the second Korean war will bring the final ruin to U.S. imperialism."

The anniversary brought a festive atmosphere to the capital, with citizens using the holiday not only to show their patriotic pride by laying flowers before statues of North Korea's first president Kim Il Sung and his son, Kim Jong Il, but also to enjoy the warm summer weather at parks and ice cream stands.

HEMPSTEAD, Texas (AP) — A committee of outside attorneys will assist the Texas district attorney investigating the death of Sandra Bland, the black woman who authorities say hanged herself in her jail cell three days after a traffic stop by a white state trooper.

Authorities also released an initial toxicology report for Bland on Monday, a report that two experts who reviewed it for The Associated Press said raises the possibility that Bland may have used marijuana while in custody.

Bland died in the county jail after the traffic stop for failing to use a turn signal escalated into a physical confrontation. Authorities have said Bland hanged herself, a finding her family disputes.

"I don't know if we'll ever get an answer to all the questions," said attorney Lewis White of Sugar Land, one of the committee members. "But our job is to get answers. There are going to be answers some people don't like."

The panel will have full access to all evidence in the case and the authority to subpoena witnesses, according to White and another member of the committee, attorney Darrell Jordan of Houston.

The committee will make recommendations on possible criminal charges to Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis, White said. If Mathis disagrees with them, the lawyers on the panel will have the authority to present their findings to the grand jury reviewing Bland's death, he said.

Two other lawyers are expected to be appointed soon. Both White and Jordan are black, and will be dealing with a case that has received international scrutiny and questions about whether Bland was treated differently due to her race.

At a news conference announcing the committee, Mathis declined to comment on the toxicology report, saying final findings were still being prepared.

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Activist Quenell X , second from left, leads a protest calling for the firing and indictment of Texa …

The amount of THC, one of the active components of marijuana, in Bland's system was 18 micrograms per liter, the report said. That's more than three times the legal limit for drivers in Colorado and Washington, states that permit the recreational use of marijuana.

Robert Johnson, chief toxicologist at the Tarrant County medical examiner's office in Fort Worth, Texas, told the AP that a level that high suggests Bland "either had access to the drug in jail or she was a consistent user of the drug and her body had accumulated THC to the point that it was slowly releasing it over time."

But, Johnson added, "I have never seen a report in the literature or from any other source of residual THC that high three days after someone stops using the drug."

Another expert who reviewed the report, University of Florida toxicology professor Bruce Goldberger, said he believed Bland was impaired by marijuana at the time of her death. "I don't think it's possible to rule out the possibility of use while in jail," he said.

While Mathis wouldn't discuss the report Monday, one of his prosecutors, Warren Diepraam, said last week that he wouldn't rule out the drug being smuggled into the jail.

"It may be relevant as to her state of mind to determine what happened on the street," Diepraam said. "It may be relevant to her state of mind to determine how or why she committed suicide."

The attorney representing Bland's family, Cannon Lambert, didn't return a message from AP seeking comment on the toxicology report.

The Texas Rangers and the FBI are both reviewing the case. Jordan said he hoped to "provide another set of eyes" to the case and credited Mathis for opening up the investigation to extra scrutiny.

Mathis acknowledged the ongoing questions about Bland's death and the intense attention it has received, calling on people to await the findings of his office and other agencies involved in the investigation rather than speculation on social media.

Mathis said he wanted the committee to help the case move forward based on "credible evidence and not rumors."

Hundreds of people held a vigil and march for Bland on Sunday. Some carried signs that said "Justice for Sandra." Others called for a Justice Department investigation.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch didn't mention the Bland case at a previously scheduled speech in Houston, just 50 miles southeast of Waller County, but said one of her top priorities is ending an "epidemic of distrust" between communities and law enforcement.

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Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.

Committee named to review Sandra Bland case

A panel of outside attorneys will have full access to evidence and make recommendations on criminal charges.
Had pot in her system

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In this photo released on May 4, 2015, by a militant website, which has been verified and is consist …

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The United States and Turkey are finalizing plans for a military campaign to push the Islamic State out of a strip of land along the Syrian border, deepening efforts to halt the extremists' advances.

A U.S. official said the creation of an "Islamic State-free zone" would ensure greater security and stability in the Turkish-Syrian border region. However, the official said any joint military efforts with Turkey would not include the imposition of a no-fly zone, a step Washington has long resisted despite Turkish requests.

The discussions come amid a major tactical shift in Turkey's approach to the Islamic State. After months of reluctance, Turkish warplanes started striking militant targets in Syria last week, following a long-awaited agreement allowing the U.S. to launch its own strikes from the strategically located Incirlik Air Base.

The official insisted on anonymity because this person was not authorized to publicly discuss the talks with Turkey.

Despite the U.S. and Turkey's shared interests in fighting the Islamic State, the Turks have also prioritized defeating Syrian President Bashar Assad. While the U.S. says Assad has lost legitimacy, it has not taken direct military action to try to remove him from office.

Turkey's new airstrike campaign also includes a second front targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. The U.S. has relied on Syrian Kurdish fighters affiliated with the PKK to help make gains against the Islamic State.

Turkey accuses the PKK of not keeping pledges to withdraw armed fighters from its territory and disarm. The Turks are also concerned that gains made by Kurds in Iraq and in Syria could encourage its own minority to seek independence.