There is now a video of the arrest of Sandra Bland, the 28-year-old black woman who was found dead in her jail cell in Waller County, Texas, on Monday. She was initially pulled over last Friday for not using her signal when she changed lanes, and arrested for “assault on a public servant.”
In the video of her arrest, recorded by a bystander, you can see police on top of Bland. She is down on the ground, and she can be heard asking officers why they are being so rough with her.
Police have said her death was a suicide, but her family and friends do not believe that explanation, and are calling for a full investigation.
Here & Now‘s Meghna Chakrabarti talks with St. John Barned-Smith, who covers criminal justice for the Houston Chronicle, about what is known so far about what happened to Sandra Bland.
Guest
- St. John Barned-Smith, criminal justice reporter for the Houston Chronicle. He tweets @stjbs.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
