A 28-year-old African American woman named Sandra Bland was found dead on Monday morning in her jail cell in Texas and her family wants answers because the story just doesn’t add up.
An autopsy report concluded that Bland committed suicide by hanging herself, but a movement has started suggesting her death was the result of police brutality.
According to WGNTV, Bland left her home in Illinois to start a new job in Texas when she was pulled over by the Waller County police for a traffic violation, failing to signal a lane change.
She was arrested on an assaulting a public servant charge for allegedly resisting arrest, though a video does not show her getting "combative" with the arresting officer, like he alleges.
The haunting video, obtained by ABC 7, does show Bland challenging the officers as to why they were being violent. “You just slammed my head into the ground," she told them. "Do you not even care about that? I can't even hear."
As she was being arrested she told them again, “You slammed me into the ground and everything."
A bystander, Malcolm Jackson, taped the incident and explained, "After he pulled her out of the car, forced her and tossed her to the ground, knee to the neck, and arrested her."
She was set to start a new job at her alma amter, Prairie View A&M University, this week. Her family believes she was killed and has ruled out the idea that she committed suicide.
Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis said an investigation will commence, and the Bland family will give a press conference on Thursday after they’ve hired a lawyer.
“I understand there’s some disbelief among some friends and family that she would do this to herself,” Mathis said.
video via Twitter from BYP100