It's a Shame....

I watched the dash cam footage of Sandra Bland's arrest today and the thing that struck me is how none of this would have happened if the cop hadn't overreacted to Sandra's attitude. In case you've been living under a rock and don't know about Sandra Bland I'll give you a quick rundown.

-Sandra Bland was a 28 year old black woman from Illinois
-She got a job at Prairie View A&M in Texas (her alma mater) and drove from Illinois to Texas to start the job
-She was driving on Friday July 10th and was pulled over for failure to signal a lane change
-She was arrested for assaulting a public servant because the cop said she kicked him while she was handcuffed
-She was taken to jail, charged and held on $5,000 bail
-On the morning of Monday July 13th she was found dead in her cell, hung by a trash bag
-The county declared it a suicide
-It is now being investigated by the Texas Rangers and the FBI as a homicide

Now that we're all caught up I'll explain my thoughts. In the dash cam video after the cop went back to Sandra's car with the ticket he asked if she was ok because she looked irritated. She said she was irritated at being pulled over. The officer asked her to put out her cigarette and she refused saying she shouldn't have to put out a cigarette in her own car. The officer told her to get out of the car, she refused and it all went to hell after that.

He threatened to drag her out of the car, he pulled a taser on her and said he would "light her up". She got out of the car and was pissed and continually questioned his tactics. She was handcuffed and pushed to the ground. At some point during that she allegedly kicked him. From the dash cam video you couldn't see everything that happened after she was out of the car and the video of the passerby starts when she's already on the ground so I don't know if she actually kicked him but that's actually beside the point.

The point is the arrest and her death could have been avoided if the cop just let it go when she refused to put out the cigarette. The public is under no obligation to be nice and respectful to the police. We can be rude or have a nasty attitude and that's not illegal. Should we be polite to police when pulled over? Sure but we have no obligation to do so. We can't legally threaten the police but Sandra didn't threaten the police. From the video you could tell from her tone of voice that she was clearly annoyed and had an attitude with the cop but she didn't threaten the cop in any way and that was no reason to make her get out of the car.

My Lawyerly Sidenote: the police can legally ask you to get out of the car during a traffic stop

Sandra Bland didn't pose any credible threat to the cop at that point. She was irritated at being pulled over and seemed to feel like she was pulled over wrongfully and she expressed that. Period. He was legally able to ask her to get out of the car but he didn't have a practical reason to do that. At that point he should have just given her the ticket and went about his day. Instead he didn't even hesitate before he ordered her out of the car.

That set off a chain of events that ultimately led to Sandra Bland's death which is beyond sad. I don't know if she killed herself or if someone else killed her but I do know the circumstances are suspicious as hell surrounding her death. This was a young woman who seemed to be starting a new chapter in her life and now she's dead because she wouldn't put out a cigarette.