Warning: Explicit language
Sandra Bland's arrest video: What it shows
The video released in the confrontational arrest of Sandra Bland in Waller County, Texas – whom jail house officials found hanged in her cell three days later – backs up Texas State Trooper Brian T. Encinia's assertions that Bland, 28, refused to follow orders. But it also shows him demanding she exit her vehicle after she became upset over getting a ticket and refused his order to put out her cigarette.
The video hasn’t answered questions for Bland’s family, who have demanded her death be investigated as a homicide, though it has been ruled a suicide. Bland had just been hired for a community outreach job at Prairie View A&M University, her alma mater, the day before her arrest.
Failure to signal a lane change
Encinia pulls up behind Bland, and the dashboard video shows her change lanes without signaling.
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Encinia's initial contact
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He pulls Bland over and tells her he's doing so because she failed to signal a lane change. He asks for her driver's license and registration. She cannot be heard at first, and then he asks, "What's wrong?"
He then asks if she has a driver's license.
"I didn't give you my driver's license?" Bland says.
"No ma'am," Encinia says.
"I apologize," Bland says.
"Where are you headed to now?" Encinia says.
"Homeward," Bland says.
Bland becomes irritated
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Several minutes have passed as Encinia checks her documents. Encinia approaches again and asks whether she is OK.
"I feel like it is crap for what I am getting a ticket for," Bland says. "I was getting out of your way, you were speeding up, tailing me. So I move over and you stop me, so, yeah, I am a little irritated, but that doesn't stop you from giving me a ticket."
"Are you done?" Encinia says.
"You asked me what was wrong and I told you. So now I’m done, yeah." Bland says.
The cigarette
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"Do you mind putting out your cigarette, please?" Encinia says.
"I'm in my car. Why do I have to put out my cigarette?" Bland says.
"Well, you can step on out now," Encinia says.
"I don't have to step out of my car," Bland says.
The conflict escalates
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Encinia opens her door. He repeatedly tells her to step out of the car. She repeatedly asserts what she says are her rights and asks why she is being removed from her vehicle for a failure to signal. This goes on for about 2 minutes, with Encinia at one point attempting to yank Bland from the car.
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Encinia draws his taser
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Encinia ends the tug of war by pulling his Taser.
"Get out of the car," he says. "I will light you up. Get out. Now. Get out of the car."
Bland exits the car, carrying her cellphone, which she indicates she is using to record. They go off to the right of the screen, off camera. She continues to yell that she is being arrested for a failure to signal. He yells at her to put the phone down.
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Bland puts the phone down
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They come back on screen as Encinia makes Bland put her phone down. She places it on the trunk of her car, and they move off screen again.
He orders her to stand in one spot, turn around and put her hands behind her back. She continues to scream about why she is being arrested.
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"You were getting a warning, now you are going to jail"
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Encinia explains that initially she was just going to get a warning, but that now she is going to jail. He radioes in that he has her under control and she is in handcuffs. "You're about to break my wrist," Bland is heard to say.
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An off-screen scuffle
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Bland is screaming and crying that he is breaking her wrist. There are clear sounds of a scuffle, and another officer is heard telling Bland to "stop resisting, ma'am."
"When you pull away from me you are resisting arrest," the second officer says. Bland is crying out that Encinia "slammed me and knocked my head to the ground."
"You are going to jail for resisting arrest"
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"For a warning, you are going to jail for resisting arrest," Encinia tells Bland off screen.
Still crying, she says she can't stand up. The officers try to direct her.
"You just slammed my head into the ground. Do you not even care about that?" Bland says. She thanks someone for recording.
Encinia indicates Bland has kicked him
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Encinia, in a voiceover recorded after the incident, indicates that Bland tried to yank away from him and kicked him, "so I took her straight to the ground."
Encinia explains to his commanding officer why he had
Bland leave the car
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Encinia tells his commanding officer he tried to explain to her what she was doing and what was happening, but that she wouldn't even look at him. He said he asked to her leave the car because he did not want to argue with her while he was standing in traffic. He said he didn't tell her she was under arrest until he had her on the ground, "at least I don't think I did."
Sources: Texas Department of Public Safety, Times reporting