Michael Graczyk, Associated Press

Updated 10:45 pm, Tuesday, July 21, 2015

HEMPSTEAD, Texas (AP) — A police dashboard video released Tuesday shows that a Texas state trooper tried to pull a black motorist out of her car, then drew his stun gun and threatened her after she refused to follow his orders during a traffic stop.

The roadside encounter swiftly escalated into a shouting confrontation as the officer attempted to drag 28-year-old Sandra Bland from her vehicle, with the officer at one point saying, "I will light you up," as he held the stun gun.

Days later, Bland was found dead in a jail cell in a case that has caused her family and supporters to dispute that she hanged herself with a plastic garbage bag, as authorities have said.

The video posted by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows the trooper stopping Bland for failure to signal a lane change. After he hands her a written warning, the trooper remarks that Bland seems irritated. The Illinois woman replies that she is irritated because she had changed lanes to make way for the trooper's car.

The conversation quickly turns hostile when the officer asks Bland to put out her cigarette and she asks why she can't smoke in her own car. The trooper then orders Bland to get out of the vehicle. She refuses, and he tells her she is under arrest.

Further refusals to get out bring a threat from the trooper to drag her out. He then pulls out a stun gun and makes the threat about lighting Bland up.

When she finally steps out of the vehicle, the trooper orders her to the side of the road. There, the confrontation continues off-camera but is still audible. The two keep yelling at each other as the officer tries to put Bland in handcuffs and waits for other troopers to arrive.

Out of the camera's view, Bland goes on protesting her arrest, repeatedly using expletives and calling the officer a "pussy." She screams that he's about to break her wrists and complains that he knocked her head into the ground.

Her death comes after nearly a year of heightened national scrutiny of police and their dealings with black suspects, especially those who have been killed by officers.

The case has resonated on social media, with posts questioning the official account and featuring the hashtags #JusticeForSandy and #WhatHappenedToSandyBland. Others referred to #SandySpeaks, the hashtag Bland used in monologues she posted on Facebook in which she talked about police brutality and said she had a calling from God to speak out against racism and injustice.

In an affidavit released Tuesday, the trooper said that after handcuffing her for becoming combative, she swung her elbows at him and kicked him in his right shin.

Trooper Brian Encinia said he then used force "to subdue Bland to the ground," and she continued to fight back. He arrested her for assault on a public servant.

The trooper, who has been on the force for just over a year, has been placed on administrative leave for violating unspecified police procedures and the Department of Public Safety's courtesy policy. The agency would not address questions about whether the trooper acted appropriately by drawing his stun gun or pulling her out of the vehicle.

"Regardless of the situation — it doesn't matter where it happens — a DPS state trooper has got an obligation to exhibit professionalism and be courteous ... and that wasn't the case in this situation," said Steven McCraw, the department director.

A law enforcement expert from Maryland said he was troubled by the video "from start to finish."

Vernon Herron, a senior policy analyst with the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security, said if the trooper intended to give her a warning, that's what he should have done, no matter what the woman said to him.

"A person's attitude or their demeanor is not probable cause to make an arrest," said Herron, who has more than 35 years of experience in public safety and law enforcement.

Bland was taken to the Waller County Jail about 60 miles northwest of Houston on July 10 and found dead July 13. A Texas Rangers investigation into her death is being supervised by the FBI.

Although a medical examiner has ruled Bland's death a suicide, supporters insist she was upbeat and looking forward to a new job at Prairie View A&M University, where she graduated in 2009. Bland's family and clergy members have called for aJustice Department probe, and an independent autopsy has been ordered.

At a memorial service Tuesday night at Bland's alma mater, her mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, reiterated that she doesn't believe Bland took her own life. She also spoke of her grief, saying, "I have a baby to put in the ground."

Bland posted a video to her Facebook page in March, saying she was suffering from "a little bit of depression as well as PTSD," or post-traumatic stress disorder. Family members have said nothing in her background suggested she was mentally troubled, and at least one friend said she was just venting after a bad day.

Court records show Bland had several encounters with police in both Illinois and Texas over the past decade, including repeated traffic stops and two arrests for drunk driving, one of which was later dismissed.

She was also charged twice with possession of a small amount of marijuana. A 2009 case was dismissed, but she pleaded guilty last year to the other charge and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

A decade earlier, in June 2004, Bland was charged with one count of retail theft of less than $150 in Elmhurst, Illinois. She pleaded guilty and was fined.

The Waller County Sheriff's Office has acknowledged violating state rules on jail training and the monitoring of inmates.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards last week cited the jail for not providing documents proving that jailers in the past year had undergone training on interacting with inmates who are mentally disabled or potentially suicidal.

The citation also showed that jailers fell short by not observing inmates in person at least once every hour.

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Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle contributed to this report from Dallas.

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Dashcam video posted by Texas Department of Public Safety: http://youtu.be/yf8GR3OO9mU .

Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's attorney general has ordered an inquiry into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spending, a justice ministry official said on Tuesday, amid reports of alleged misuse of public funds.

Netanyahu and his wife Sara came under the spotlight ahead of his reelection in March over her alleged pocketing of public cash by collecting deposits on empty bottles, and payment for maintenance at their private residence.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ordered the inquiry on Monday, the justice ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity, following a preliminary probe launched in February.

The inquiry will examine allegations that the Netanyahus sent furniture bought for the premier's official Jerusalem residence to their holiday home in Caesarea, and that they used public money to pay an electrician to work at that property.

It will also look into reports that Sara Netanyahu pocketed at least $1,000 from the deposits on empty bottles returned from the official residence during the premier's previous term in office.

The Netanyahus have dismissed the allegations, widely circulated in the local media, as a smear campaign.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Hundreds of Ukrainian right-wingers were rallying in Kiev on Tuesday to protest against government policies in the wake of a deadly stand-off between radical nationalists and police in the country's west.

The radical Right Sector group was one of the most militant factions in the massive protests in Ukraine's capital that prompted pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country in February 2014. Since the war broke out in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russia separatists several months later, the Right Sector has fought on the government side.

However, Right Sector militants keep running into disputes with local Ukrainian authorities and Amnesty International has accused the group of holding civilians as prisoners and torturing them. The activists claim they are trying to clamp down on corruption and nepotism but Ukrainian authorities accuse Right Sector of using violence to reach its goals.

Speaking Tuesday at the national Right Sector congress, group leader Dmytro Yarosh called for a referendum to impeach President Petro Poroshenko and his government.

Yarosh also called for the recognition of volunteer battalions and their right to carry arms as well as introducing martial law, which he said, will help defeat the rebels in the east.

Right Sector supporters gathered on Tuesday evening on Kiev's main square to support Yarosh's motion. Most of them were civilians and appeared to be unarmed, although some young men wore camouflage.

View gallery

Members of the Right Sector group march down the street during a rally in the center Kiev, Ukraine, …

Yarosh told the supporters at the square that the new government that replaced Yanukovych's regime was only about "changing names" but not the political system.

"We are an organized revolutionary force that is opening the new phase of the Ukrainian revolution," he told the rally.

The Right Sector leader garnered about 1 percent of the vote in the May 2014 presidential election. His radical anti-Russian stance prompted the Kremlin to dismiss the uprising in Kiev as a neo-Nazi coup.

The Ukrainian government has attempted to rein in the volunteer battalions who often took frontline positions in eastern Ukraine where soldiers were reluctant to go by encouraging them to join the National Guard and police forces. In reality, hundreds of men in government-controlled eastern Ukraine still carry arms without any authorization.

Two Right Sector members were killed earlier this month after the group attacked police in the western city of Mukacheve with gunfire and grenades. Police responded and then surrounded some gunmen in a wooded area of Mukacheve and have been trying to negotiate their surrender since then.

View gallery

People applause to members of the Right Sector group march down the street during a rally in the cen …

Right Sector insists that the men were trying to confront local policemen who he said were involved in a major smuggling business in the region.

Yarosh accused the government of deploying troops and weaponry to hunt down the Right Sector members instead of focusing on the war in the east: "Our guys were spilling their blood (in the east) but now they are being punished behind the lines."

In a sign that he does not control the men in Mukacheve, he said Tuesday he did not know for sure how many men were still out there but said it was likely to be nine. He also dismissed reports that Right Sector fighters are roaming the country with the arms they were given to fight the rebels in the east.

The stand-off in Mukacheve has caused a split in Right Sector with several dozen fighters quitting the battalion to join other battalions in protest.

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Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed to this report from Moscow.

WCPO - Cincinnati Scripps
Vigil for Sam Dubose, man killed by UC police officer

CINCINNATI (AP) — A prosecutor said Tuesday his office is probing the fatal shooting of a black motorist by a white University of Cincinnati police officer who had stopped him because of a missing license plate.

Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters said in a statement that his office is "rapidly investigating" what happened between the motorist and Officer Ray Tensing and that he expects an assessment of the case to be completed by the end of next week.

University police Chief Jason Goodrich said earlier that Tensing was at the edge of the campus Sunday evening when he spotted a car missing a front license plate and driven by Samuel Dubose. He said after the officer stopped him, Dubose apparently refused to provide a driver's license, produced an alcohol bottle instead and refused to get out. A struggle ensued, and Tensing fired one shot and was knocked to the ground, Goodrich said.

The car rolled a short distance before stopping. Goodrich said Dubose, 43, had been shot in the head and was dead at the scene.

Dubose's death comes amid several months of national scrutiny of police and their dealings with black suspects, especially those who have been killed by officers.

Tensing's legs were bruised, and his uniform was torn, police said. The officer, who was treated at a hospital and released Sunday night, is on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues.

Messages were left for UC police Tuesday seeking comment on Deters' statement.

Earlier Tuesday, University of Cincinnati President Santa J. Ono offered condolences to Dubose's family and loved ones.

"Our hearts grieve for his loss," Ono said. "We also know that police officers risk their lives every day, and when their efforts to protect themselves and our community result in a death, it is a tragedy. No matter the circumstances, it is a time of unimaginable sadness for all involved."

Cincinnati police are also investigating, and city leaders pledged Tuesday to make sure the case is given a thorough, transparent review.

"This is a serious situation and I will do everything necessary to ensure the investigation is handled as such," City Manager Harry Black said in a statement.

Mayor John Cranley said he has spoken with Deters.

City officials said video from the Sunday evening encounter has been turned over to the prosecutor's office.

Tensing has more than five years of experience in law enforcement and has worked as a University of Cincinnati police officer since April 2014, Goodrich said. An Associated Press review of his UC personnel file didn't indicate any problems in that time.

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Lisa Cornwell in Cincinnati contributed.

Fatal police shooting of black Ohio driver probed

Authorities are investigating the deadly shooting of a black motorist by a University of Cincinnati police officer.
Traffic stop dispute