TX - Sandra Bland, 28, found dead in jail cell, Waller County, 13 July 2015 #1

[bwt42]

And flicked cigarettes specifically. I would imagine you could have a flicked cigarette bounce off you with no damage whatsoever.

I would consider it a reasonable request to ask an agitated motorist to put out their cig. before I stuck in my hand to hand them a citation. JMO

 

[bluesneakers]

I think there are posters on this thread that give the police the benefit of the doubt until evidence changes their mind & there are those that attack the police on every thread they post on.

I think there are posters on this thread who consistently attack the victims of police brutality despite the evidence, and there are those who give victims the benefit of the doubt until evidence changes their mind.

 

[CoolJ]

I'm with Kim Kardashian on this one #massivecoverup

 

[Montjoy]

I'm with Kim Kardashian on this one #massivecoverup

Did she get a new pair of shorts?

 

[branwynbreeze]

You think a cherry of a cig is a little weapon? The LE man has the gun. Some LE officers must have gone soft. MOO That cop should have told Ms Bland that she had a "weapon" and "Drop your weapon!" I would never think a cig is a "weapon". I wonder if chew is also considered a "weapon" as the chew can be spat at the officer?

I don't think it's that unusual. My cousin was pulled over for burnt out tail light, she was asked to put out her cigarette, so she threw it out the window. Cop asked what she was thinking, lectured her on littering as she repeatedly said she was sorry. Just got a warning.

 

[bluesneakers]

I hope I don't offend any smokers, but I detest cigarette smoking (and what I think has no bearing on a person's RIGHT to smoke) But it reeks. The nasty residue gets on EVERYTHING even if smokers tell you they "air it out". If I walk by people smoking outside, my clothes are coated with stale ciggy smell. It sucks.

That said, smoking is legal and this woman was adhering to her rights as is a person carrying around a gun, which I abhor as much as cigarette smoking.

See, you don't have to "like" a practice to respect its constitutionally protected right to exist.

Smoking in one's own vehicle is not illegal in TX and she did NOT refuse to extinguish, she only stated that she was within her legal rights to smoke in her vehicle.

And that offered a police officer looking for a fight the opportunity he needed.

 

[EllieBee]

Exactly. He also told his supervisor that he tried to deescalate the situation, which is not consistent with the video evidence. Why should anybody believe his word, when he tells so many blatant lies?

OMG, the lies!
Hearing his OWN voice give an account that is in no way adherent to what we saw and heard on the dashcam vid is jaw-dropping. Is he so naive as to think no one would review his camera? Ugh.

 

[KaaBoom]

Sure, they can ask you to put out a cigarette -- but you can refuse if it is not a lawful order. And as per expert opinion, asking her to put out a cigarette while she was in her own car was not a lawful order.

(I also find it hilarious that anyone would suggest that a cigarette flicked from a car could be considered a weapon. As Bessie posted upthread, someone's hands, car keys, cell phone, etc., could be used far more effectively than a cigarette as a weapon. Last time I checked, LE didn't wear gasoline-soaked paper-taffeta uniforms.)

And even if the LEO was soaked in gasoline, a cigarette still wouldn't hurt him.

[video=youtube;fMrj9VFl2cY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMrj9VFl2cY[/video]

 

[EllieBee]

I think there are posters on this thread who consistently attack the victims of police brutality despite the evidence, and there are those who give victims the benefit of the doubt until evidence changes their mind.

Oh but dontchaknow, it's like those hussies who get raped......they were out late and had on clingy slacks. They deserved it.

Same with cops and their prey. Shut up and take it or get it twice as bad.

Who needs constitutionally protected rights? I mean, other than the Second Amendment which is held in high esteem by the same folks who eschew other basic rights. I find that odd.

I think it would be interesting to see the comments if cops began targeting white gun owners and demanding they hand over the weapons they have a right to own.

Would the same support exist for LE then?

Rights are rights. Smoking a cigarette or owning a gun. But God forbid somebody takes yer dadgum gun.

 

[KaaBoom]

I think there are posters on this thread that give the police the benefit of the doubt until evidence changes their mind & there are those that attack the police on every thread they post on.

In the US you are guilty until proven innocent and the police are assumed to be telling the truth, until proven otherwise. I don't agree with that. I believe people are innocent until proven guilty, and the police are less believable, then an average citizen. That based on my personal observation.

 

[bwt42]

And even if the LEO was soaked in gasoline, a cigarette still wouldn't hurt him.

[video=youtube;fMrj9VFl2cY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMrj9VFl2cY[/video]

I sure wouldn't one put out on the back of my hand. I agree there is no statute that says you can't smoke in your car. Therefore, she was not arrested for that.

 

[katydid23]

it does happen:

But the dog’s owner became combative, and officers then tried to arrest her. She resisted and then burned one of the officers with a lit cigarette, said Prince William police spokesman Jonathan Perok.

The woman was eventually taken into custody and the officer suffered minor injuries.

http://potomaclocal.com/2011/06/21/officer-burned-by-cigarette-over-dog/

Sheriff's Office: Man struck deputy, burned K9 with cigarette

Once deputies and the K9 unit were inside the home, deputies say Packer stuck a deputy and burned a police dog named "Axel" twice in the nose with a lit cigarette when they attempted to remove him from a bathroom.





http://www.baynews9.com/content/new...icles/bn9/2014/2/28/sheriff_s_office_man.html

 

[EllieBee]

I don't think it's that unusual. My cousin was pulled over for burnt out tail light, she was asked to put out her cigarette, so she threw it out the window. Cop asked what she was thinking, lectured her on littering as she repeatedly said she was sorry. Just got a warning.

Is your cousin white?

 

[katydid23]

In the US you are guilty until proven innocent and the police are assumed to be telling the truth, until proven otherwise. I don't agree with that. I believe people are innocent until proven guilty, and the police are less believable, then an average citizen. That based on my personal observation.

If you were an officer, and you were dispatched to emergency calls, day after day, then you might not have the same feeling about people being generally 'innocent.' It is a bad side effect of their job that they tend to lose faith in people after seeing so many horrible, sick crimes, over and over. It does make cops cynical and suspicious. But who wouldn't feel that way after arresting fathers for molestation and mothers for neglect and teens for stealing from their grandparents.

You are basing your beliefs upon your personal observations just as many LEOs are doing the same. JMO

 

[Montjoy]

If you were an officer, and you were dispatched to emergency calls, day after day, then you might not have the same feeling about people being generally 'innocent'

This was not an officer dispatched to an emergency call. And if officers, or any professionals of any sort, lose their objectivity, I do not think that they are worth very much as professionals. They should find another line of work, one in which they can control themselves and act like responsible professionals.

 

[bluesneakers]

Oh but dontchaknow, it's like those hussies who get raped......they were out late and had on clingy slacks. They deserved it.

Same with cops and their prey. Shut up and take it or get it twice as bad.

Who needs constitutionally protected rights? I mean, other than the Second Amendment which is held in high esteem by the same folks who eschew other basic rights. I find that odd.

I think it would be interesting to see the comments if cops began targeting white gun owners and demanding they hand over the weapons they have a right to own.

Would the same support exist for LE then?

Rights are rights. Smoking a cigarette or owning a gun. But God forbid somebody takes yer dadgum gun.

After seeing people freak out over Jade Helm I wonder if they would. I'm assuming though, like with Jade Helm, they would stay loyal to the police and blame Obama.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

This was not an officer dispatched to an emergency call. And if officers, or any professionals of any sort, lose their objectivity, I do not think that they are worth very much as professionals. They should find another line of work, one in which they can control themselves and act like responsible professionals.

Also too, they should not rely on "feeling" whether people are innocent or guilty, which is not after all their professional jurisdiction, but instead uphold the Constitutional standard of innocent until proven guilty that they are sworn to uphold.

 

[~greeneyedgirl~]

No.. he was getting ready to hand her the ticket and he asked her to put her cigarette out because its a flipping weapon.. Or potential one. Every cop will ask you to put out your cigarette. That is all he asked and she blew up and started acting like a brat. She brought the arrest on. He was not even giving her a ticket. Just a warning.

To be technical he did not ask her to put out her cigarette his words were, would you mind putting the cigarette out? That is a question not an order. I have never been asked to put out my cigarette while getting a ticket. He gave her a choice and didn't like her response.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Cubby]

I'm not sure that her family knew of any previous suicide attempt. Her sister on MSNBC last night did know of the miscarriage in 2014. The family lives in Chicago, I believe. I don't know when Sandra moved to Texas, but she still had Illinois Plates. She had communicated to them that she was very excited about her new job. It sounds to me like she was very recently settling in to living in Texas and looking forward. An arrest, before she even got started with her job, must have been devastating, especially when she really did not understand WHY she was incarcerated and WHY $5000 bail (which, yes, would be $500) to get out. We do not know if she had a bunch of friends there, or not. I suspect not since she had just moved there. I feel so badly for her. JMO

She was from Naperville which is a far west suburb of Chicago.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...ideo-react-st-0723-20150723-story.html#page=1

 

[~greeneyedgirl~]

Watch the video again, and pay particular attention to the difference in the way he treated the white driver before. I'm also white and have also been treated like this by cops on dozens of times. As a white person you have to multiply your experience, to understand what blacks go through. Blacks are stopped 31 times more often then whites, and are three times more likely to be searched, once they are stopped. This is a regular everyday occurrence for most African Americans.

Thanks wasn't enough here, I too am white and my spouse is black. I drive most of the time and when we cross the border to Michigan I drive or we get pulled in every single time. Before meeting my other half I had never encountered racial discrimination unfortunately it is now an almost daily occurrence when we are out together as a family.

Sandra should be alive today enjoying her new job and family.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk