Sandra Bland’s Personal Cell Footage Of Her 2015 Traffic Stop Released, Family Demands Answers [VIDEO]

Sandra Bland – Never Before Released Footage Of Her 2015 Traffic Stop Released, Family Demands Answers [VIDEO]

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost four years since Sandra Bland was initially pulled over for a traffic stop in Texas in July 2015, resulting in her arrest and eventual death when she was found dead, hanging in a local jail cell three days later. Now, Bland’s personal cell phone footage from the traffic stop has surfaced and her family has new questions that demand answers.

According to reports, a never-before-released 39-second video clip from Sandra Bland’s cell phone has been released—showing her initial traffic stop from her perspective when she was pulled over by former Texas state trooper Brian Encinia.

The video clip begins with Encinia furiously shouting,

“Get out of the car! Now!”

Bland can then be heard asking him why he would “threaten to drag me out of my own car,” and then Encinia pulls out his taser, pointing it at Bland. He continues to scream “Get out of the car!” as the taser remains pointed at Bland’s torso. He shouts at her again, this time saying,

“I will light you up!”

Bland then leaves her vehicle saying to Encinia,

“Wow. Wow…You’re doing all of this for a failure to signal?”

Encinia demands that she stop recording him, ordering her to “get off the phone!” Bland responds, informing him that

“I have a right to record.”

After that exchange Bland apparently stopped recording, as the video cuts off.

See the video below.

 

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The newly-released footage was uncovered by a local Dallas television station and Bland’s family is alleging that Bland’s footage was purposely withheld all these years by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Bland’s sister, Shante Needham, now wants the case reopened in the hopes that Encinia face criminal charges for his role in Bland’s death.

Needham said this about the new video:

“Open up the case, period. [The video clip] not only shows that [Encinia] lied, but that he really had no business even stopping her, period. And at the end of the day, he needs to go to jail.”

Needham also says she believes that the Texas Department of Public Safety played a huge role in trying to bury this footage, saying:

“We also know they have an extremely, extremely good coverup system.”

However, the Texas Department of Public Safety has denied Needham’s allegations, releasing a statement saying:

“The premise that the video was not produced as a part of the discovery process is wrong. A hard drive containing copies of 820 Gigabytes of data compiled by DPS from its investigation, including the dash cam videos, jail video footage and data from Sandra Bland’s cellphone, was part of discovery.”

The Bland family’s attorney, Cannon Lambert, isn’t buying their story and stated his reasons why:

“I’ve not seen it. If they had turned it over, I would have seen it. The video makes it abundantly clear there was nothing she was doing in that car that put him at risk at all.”

Sandra Bland

If you’ll recall, Encinia was fired and can never work as a police officer again. He was initially charged with perjury, but that charge was later thrown out. The Bland family won a $1.9 million settlement after suing the Texas Department of Public Safety and Waller County.

Based on this new footage, Texas Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) has promised a new probe into the case to determine whether the video was properly shared during the initial investigation.

Coleman, who sponsored a bill named after Bland to increase resources for mentally ill inmates and add more police accountability measures, had this to say about his new look into Bland’s case:

“It is troubling that a crucial piece of evidence was withheld from Sandra Bland’s family and legal team in their pursuit of justice. As Chair of the House Committee on County Affairs that looked into the death of Sandra Bland, I will make sure that the Committee will also look into how this happened.”

This appears to be the start of something that could possibly unearth an entire new set of questions, and maybe even evidence, to hold Brian Encinia responsible for his role in what happened to Sandra Bland.

What are your thoughts on this new evidence in the Sandra Bland case? Let us know in the comments!