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Sandra Bland's death in jail to be reviewed like a murder case Sandra Bland arrest video released by Texas officials
(about 7 hours later)
The death of a woman in a Texas jail cell, apparently by suicide, is being reviewed like a murder case. A police dashcam video showing the arrest of a woman who died three days later in custody has been released by officials in Texas.
The coroner said Sandra Bland hanged herself but her family do not believe that would have been possible. Footage of the 10 July arrest shows Sandra Bland's car being pulled over for failing to signal and then an ensuing confrontation with the officer.
A local prosecutor in Waller County called on Tuesday for a "thorough review'' and said her death would be examined like a murder investigation. The coroner said she hanged herself in her cell but her family have called for an independent autopsy.
She was found dead in her cell a week ago, three days after she allegedly hit an officer during a traffic stop. State officials and the FBI are both investigating her death.
Her death is one of many under national scrutiny in which a black person has died while in police custody. In the video, released by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the policeman is seen issuing a ticket and then asking her to stub out her cigarette, which she refuses.
The death is already being investigated by the FBI but the local prosecutor said another investigation, by the Texas Rangers, would be very thorough. When she refuses to step out of the car, he tries unsuccessfully to pull her out. He then appears to threaten her with a Taser and says the words: "I will light you up."
"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," said Elton Mathis, the Waller County district attorney. She gets out of the car and the two of them move out of vision, but the audio suggests the confrontation becomes physical during the arrest before more officers arrive.
An Illinois native, 28-year-old Bland was in Texas because she was about to start a new job there when she was pulled over by police. The arresting officer said he was kicked. He has been put on administrative leave.
Bland's family has ordered an independent autopsy and called for a probe from the Department of Justice. Earlier on Tuesday, local district attorney Elton Mathis said the case - like all deaths in a jail cell - would be investigated like a murder.
Video footage did not show what happened inside Bland's cell, but did suggest no one entered or left it until someone found her unconscious. The death of the 28-year-old is one of several under national scrutiny in which a black person has died while in police custody.
Other high-profile cases, since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson last summer, have sparked protests and sometimes unrest.
Bland's family has ordered an independent autopsy and called for an investigation by the Department of Justice.
Video footage did not show what happened inside Bland's cell, but did suggest no-one entered or left it until someone found her unconscious.
Jail Sheriff Glen Smith said his staff checked on Bland less than an hour before she was found dead.Jail Sheriff Glen Smith said his staff checked on Bland less than an hour before she was found dead.
Her sister Shante Needham said Bland called her from jail, saying she did not know why she had been arrested and that an officer had possibly broken her arm.Her sister Shante Needham said Bland called her from jail, saying she did not know why she had been arrested and that an officer had possibly broken her arm.
The Texas Rangers are testing for fingerprints and DNA to be able to "say with certainty what happened in that cell", Mr Mathis said.
He called her "combative" while being arrested.
"It was not a model traffic stop... and it was not a model person that was stopped on a traffic stop," said Mr Mathis.
"I think the public can make its own determinations as to the behaviours that are seen in the video.''
Mathis said a police dashcam video, set to be released on Tuesday, is "consistent" with what the officer who arrested Bland said about the 10 July traffic stop.
The trooper who arrested Bland is on administrative leave until there is an outcome from the investigation.