Sandra Bland's Family Awarded 1.9 Million In Wrongful Death Suit

Wall Street Journal

The family of the late Sandra Bland has agreed to a $1.9 million settlement for a wrongful death lawsuit.

Bland, 28, died while in police custody in July of 2015 days after an arrest was made for a traffic stop. She was pulled over by Texas state trooper Brian Encinia for changing lanes without signaling. She was then ordered from the car and forced to the ground. 

Photography is Not a Crime

According to LATimes, a video from the traffic stop shows Encinia drawing his stun gun and telling Bland, "I will light you up!" She can later be heard screaming off-camera that the trooper was about to break her wrists and complaining that he knocked her head into the ground. After the release of the video there was public outrage for the death and mistreatment of another minority while in the hands of a white officer.

She was taken into custody on a charge of assaulting a public servant but could not immediately come up with the $500 bail, according to investigators.

A medical examiner, as well as the FBI, said she committed suicide by suffocating herself with a plastic garbage bag behind bars.

Bland’s family believes that she may have been murdered and would not have killed herself.

After an investigation, Encinia was moved to administrative duties, and later fired following an indictment on perjury charges. He pleaded not guilty.

No one was indicted for Bland’s death.

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