in place):
There is significant evidence corroborating the claim that Bland’s death was a suicide, however. An autopsy determined that her cause of death was suicide by hanging, and intake forms Bland filled out at the jail indicate that she’d previously attempted suicide and that she was feeling “very depressed” on the day she was arrested.
This evidence, however, hardly exonerates the jail. Bland’s indication that she was depressed and had previously attempted suicide should have, at the very least, triggered safety protocols such as a requirement that she be subject to frequent face-to-face observations to ensure that she was not attempting to kill herself. Yet, a week after her death, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards issued a notice of non-compliance because “officers were not checking on inmates as frequently as they should be” and “not all jail staff had undergone an annual suicide prevention training required by their own suicide prevention plan.” This was at least the second time this jail was cited for non-compliance — it received a similar citation in 2012 after a 29 year-old man killed himself while incarcerated.
So it is likely that the jail failed to follow procedures intended to protect suicidal inmates. Had the jail complied with its obligations to suicidal inmates, or had Bland’s arresting officer not escalated a routine stop into an arrest, Bland could very well still be alive.
Others however, like Dailykos.com’s article writer “BlueTexDem” who, just so you know, fancies himself an ally of #BlackLivesMatter–(back in July) gave a complete chronological (theoretical) reason why he feels Sandra Bland may have committed suicide. Considering the stressed and tearful emotional state and things Sandra Bland’s cell neighbor had to say (which we also wrote up about), what do you think? After checking that out (what the cell neighbor said) read Blue Tex Dem’s theory to check out what he had to say:
There have been many recent discussion about the legality of the stop, the systemic racism, what Sandy “could have done differently,” inconsistencies in the information coming from Waller County, etc.
But while Sandra’s family and fiends don’t believe she would have committed suicide, follow me below the fold and I’ll tell you why I believe she might have.
From what I gather, Sandra was a bright, sassy young woman with a bright future ahead of her at her alma matter. She was due to start work Monday morning, the same morning she was found dead in her cell. The more I think about it the more I think her level of despair could have been great enough for her to kill herself. She had just gotten her dream job and suddenly, she probably realized she would be fired from that job for being charged with a felony for assaulting an officer. Whether it was true or not, I’m sure after her bond hearing on Saturday when an unsympathetic judge ignored her side of the story, Sandra must have become filled with a deep sense of despair. This couldn’t be happening. She had just moved from Illinois and now everything she had worked for was crashing down around her. Her family was trying to get money for her bond but even so, she would now be a felon and she knew the system was rigged against her. Who would hire her after this? Hiring lawyers to clear her name would be expensive, she probably assumed she would be fired from her new job over this and with a justice system already rigged against her I’m sure she looked at the future with little hope.
This is one of the issues I haven’t seen discussed. How one power hungry cop has the ability to forever alter another persons life. She went to college, she had a professional job, by all standards she “did it right.” But one man took that away. Suddenly she would be a felon. She would carry that with her for the rest of her life. Suddenly that college degree wouldn’t matter. Suddenly the professional job would be gone. Suddenly she would be labeled a criminal, a felon.Ultimately Officer Encinia killed her. I still find the autopsy report suspect and I’m looking forward to the second autopsy for more answers. But I think if she did commit suicide it doesn’t remove the blame of those who put her there. When someone has all of their hope, their chances at a good future and family suddenly taken away from them it has to cause a level of pain that few of us understand. All because of a failure to signal. All because of an asshole cop. Her future was stolen and she was murdered regardless of how she actually died.
I hope justice is served. I hope she’s not just another name. I hope cops will be held accountable for their actions. I hope more allies take a stand. I hope my children never have to read headlines like this. I hope…
Sun Jul 26, 2015 at 8:03 AM PT: After reading the comments I felt the need to clarify some things about this post. To begin, I am not ruling out foul play or corruption by the police. If she was already dead and they staged it, the injuries would be identifiable as occurring post-mortum. I think the second autopsy will be very revealing and hopefully provide answers to lingering questions.
Second, I think the point I wanted to make was that emotional trauma is no less significant than physical trauma and if suicide resulted from it, it’s no less tragic, it is still the direct result of Officer Encinia, it does not remove blame, onus or responsibility from the cops, the judge, or the jailers, and it is still the result of Racist policing. We do not know what happened. I was merely stating my opinion as to why she might have chosen that path given the current information available. I do believe that between her dehumanizing experience with Encinia in which she was pulled over for driving while black, goaded into a confrontation, ordered from her car, threatened with a taser, manhandled, violated, injured and them forced to spend days alone in jail in all but isolation is something that should never happen in America. Just because we didn’t see her get choked to death or shot in the back while running, does not mean that the emotional trauma she suffered during this ordeal was not fatal. I think we need to be even more proactive towards all types of police brutality because the long term emotional effects can be just as devastating as a physical assault.
I pray the Bland family can get some answers and some peace. I pray those responsible for this will answer for their sins. It wasn’t just Encinia that failed her on July 10, the other officers failed to protect her, the judge didn’t protect her by posting such a high bail, the jailers didn’t protect her by leaving her in isolation, checking on her, preventing anything from being in her cell that she could have used to harm herself, and possibly the denial of medications. This is a systemic failure of our justice system and no one is let off the hook regardless of whether or not she committed suicide. Her life mattered and her death matters now. Please understand that this diary was never intended to diminish the brutality she suffered, I tried to see things from her perspective and often one cannot do that without their own life experiences influencing that. I was been arrested when I was younger and I know how it feels sitting in a jail cell wondering what my future held, I have contemplated suicide at low points in my life and have spent a long time battling depression, I have lost friends, family, classmates and students to suicide, so yes, my story influenced how I viewed the potential suicide of Sandra Bland. I feel nothing but heartbreak for her, her family, her friends and her community over this tragedy. I’m not excusing behavior by the justice system and I am not blaming the victim. I was simply trying to empathize with her in the situation she was in.
Sun Jul 26, 2015 at 8:04 AM PT: After reading the comments I felt the need to clarify some things about this post. To begin, I am not ruling out foul play or corruption by the police. If she was already dead and they staged it, the injuries would be identifiable as occurring post-mortum. I think the second autopsy will be very revealing and hopefully provide answers to lingering questions.
Second, I think the point I wanted to make was that emotional trauma is no less significant than physical trauma and if suicide resulted from it, it’s no less tragic, it is still the direct result of Officer Encinia, it does not remove blame, onus or responsibility from the cops, the judge, or the jailers, and it is still the result of Racist policing. We do not know what happened. I was merely stating my opinion as to why she might have chosen that path given the current information available. I do believe that between her dehumanizing experience with Encinia in which she was pulled over for driving while black, goaded into a confrontation, ordered from her car, threatened with a taser, manhandled, violated, injured and them forced to spend days alone in jail in all but isolation is something that should never happen in America. Just because we didn’t see her get choked to death or shot in the back while running, does not mean that the emotional trauma she suffered during this ordeal was not fatal. I think we need to be even more proactive towards all types of police brutality because the long term emotional effects can be just as devastating as a physical assault.
I pray the Bland family can get some answers and some peace. I pray those responsible for this will answer for their sins. It wasn’t just Encinia that failed her on July 10, the other
officers failed to protect her, the judge didn’t protect her by posting such a high bail, the jailers didn’t protect her by leaving her in isolation, checking on her, preventing anything from being in her cell that she could have used to harm herself, and possibly the denial of medications. This is a systemic failure of our justice system and no one is let off the hook regardless of whether or not she committed suicide. Her life mattered and her death matters now. Please understand that this diary was never intended to diminish the brutality she suffered, I tried to see things from her perspective and often one cannot do that without their own life experiences influencing that. I was been arrested when I was younger and I know how it feels sitting in a jail cell wondering what my future held, I have contemplated suicide at low points in my life and have spent a long time battling depression, I have lost friends, family, classmates and students to suicide, so yes, my story influenced how I viewed the potential suicide of Sandra Bland. I feel nothing but heartbreak for her, her family, her friends and her community over this tragedy. I’m not excusing behavior by the justice system and I am not blaming the victim. I was simply trying to empathize with her in the situation she was in.
