I Believe Sandra Bland Committed Suicide
- Tanya Young Williams
- Jul 28, 2015
- 6 min read
I believe Sandra Bland committed suicide. There. I said it.
A twitter follower "called me out" because I have been purposely quiet in the wake of the Sandra Bland tragedy. There has been so much information released and leaked that I needed to be 100% certain of my position before I jumped from the frying pan into the fire. My delay and apprehension was also in part because I knew that my opinion would disappoint many. I believe Sandra Bland committed suicide.
Now before I lay out "why" I believe Sandra committed suicide, I must be very clear in stating that Texas Trooper Brian Encinia, and the Waller County Sheriff department, should be held accountable for Sandra’s death. Many of us believe - but for Trooper Encinia’s demonstratively unlawful arrest, Sandra would be alive today. Encinia has been placed on desk duty and the Texas authorities said that he violated procedures and the Department of Public Safety’s courtesy policy during the traffic stop.
Many of us believe - but for the lack of supervision of Sandra while detained at the Waller County Jail, she would be alive today. The operators of a Texas jail have acknowledged violating state rules on guard training and the monitoring of inmates.
The family may win a civil settlement, or more likely, settle the case for a few million dollars but that won’t bring Sandra, nor her passion for justice and her intoxicating smile back. Truthfully, I find it highly unlikely that criminal charges will arise from this case outside someone finding the “smoking gun” and murder charges be filed. In fact, as egregious as Trooper Encinia’s conduct was, I venture to say that his actions were not the proximate cause of Sandra’s death by legal definition.
On July 10, Sandra Bland was lawfully pulled over by Trooper Encinia for not signaling on a low traffic road, where a signal doesn’t seem necessary. Nevertheless, he was enforcing the law by executing the traffic stop. His conduct thereafter, as evidenced by the police Dashcam video tape, was disturbing and appalling. It would appear, from the absence of any information to the contrary, that Sandra provided her proper license and insurance papers to the trooper. What is unclear is why Encinia did anything other than hand Sandra her ticket and allow her to continue on her journey.
The following 52 minute video is of the entire Sandra Bland arrest.
Sandra's traffic stop begin at 2:00 minutes mark.
After watching many interviews and reading many articles, the overwhelming opinion is that Trooper Encinia caused the escalation of the confrontation, for which he then arrested and booked Sandra with a the third-degree felony. As told to The New York Times, “'This whole thing could have been avoided,' said Christopher C. Cooper, a civil rights lawyer, former Washington police officer and a recognized expert in police conflict resolution. He said that the video showed that the trooper’s decision to stop Ms. Bland for a minor infraction was legal but questionable, and that the officer’s angry, forceful response to Ms. Bland’s refusal to put out a cigarette seemed excessive." Vernon Herron, who has more than 35 years of experience in public safety and law enforcement said, "A person's attitude or their demeanor is not probable cause to make an arrest."
As a Nation, we continue to reel from national stories of violent deaths of young Black people (including that of Trayvon Martin), wherein is it probable that each death was directly or tangentially caused by racial animus. I, like many others feel that Sandra’s questionable traffic stop and unlawful arrest were somehow steeped in Trooper Encinia’s "White privilege" being threatened by Sandra's race, defiance and "strong personality". Nevertheless, from the time Encinia arrested Sandra, to the time she was found dead in her jail cell, hanging with a plastic bag noosed around her neck, three days had lapsed. What transpired over those three days, I surmise, is what caused the death of Sandra Bland.
Sandra spent three lonely days, crying in a dreary, windowless jail cell, with a small rectangular opening in the door, as her only connection to the outside. Alexandria Pyle, a young woman who was housed in a cell across the hall from Sandra, indicated that Sandra was distraught and frantically crying (Alexandria Plye was jailed for unpaid traffic tickets). When Pyle was asked if she believed it was suicide, she answered, "I'm positive it was, but that's just me." She continued, "I don't think the guards did anything. I mean it's a tragedy either way, but I don't think the guards did anything.”
What I found compelling is Plye's statement that Sandra was quiet. She said, “She wasn’t causing a raucous so no reason for guards to hurt her.” I find it hard to believe that these guards, who are NOT police officers, would have such disdain for Sandra, three days after an arrest that they had nothing to do with. I find it very hard to believe that these officers would risk their careers to engage in a cover-up to protect another guard. What would be the motive for any of these guards to kill Sandra Bland?
What seems more probable, and terribly upsetting, it that Sandra was a woman who experienced an emotional breakdown that led to great despondence and ultimately suicide. Having been married to someone who is bi-polar (among other things), having spoken to legendary actress, Jenifer Lewis regarding her battle and victory over bi-polar disease, and reading thousands of pages on the mental illness, I can see how Sandra could have been over-the-moon excited about her future, and just three days later, after feeling abandoned, choosing to end her life.
A look at the facts as we know them, coupled with statements from Sandra's mother (Geneva Reed-Veal) and sister (Sharon Cooper), sheds significant light on Sandra’s family dynamic and the fragility of Sandra’s emotional well-being. As Sandra’s mother stated to Rev Al Sharpton on Politics Nation, “We had issues, it (the relationship) was strained, but we still loved each other.” Ms. Reed-Veal continued to tell the story of her recent road trip with Sandra where they discussed the significant problems they had over the years. Ultimately, Ms. Reed-Veal Shared that Sandra had finally understood what her life's purpose was: Sandra wanted to go back to Texas and stop all the injustice against Black people. This positive experience led Ms. Reed-Veal to say during Sandra’s memorial and funeral services, “Am I mad? Yes. There is not any way that I can see that my baby took her own life.” By all accounts, Sandra was a smart, “sassy” (per her mother’s words), unsettled and an emotionally unstable young woman. As stated by her sister, Sandra had no "medically diagnosed clinical depression", but was prone to good days and bad.
Saundra had numerous brushes with the law over the past decade. Court records show Sandra "had several encounters with police in both Illinois and Texas, including repeated traffic stops and two arrests for drunk driving, one of which was later dismissed. She was also charged twice with possession of a small amount of marijuana. A 2009 case was dismissed, but she pleaded guilty last year to the other charge and was sentenced to 30 days in jail." Sandra’s judicial history is not to suggest that she was anything but a loving young woman who made mistakes, but to me, it could be the reason that she did not call her family back after her initial conversation with her eldest sister on Saturday July 11 at 1:50 pm.
Sandra’s bond was set at $5000, for which 10% was needed for her release. Ms. Cooper stated in an MSNBC interview, that the family assured Sandra, on the 1:50 phone call, that they would get her out expeditiously. However, that did not happen. Pyle stated that Sandra was distraught and crying that her calls to a friend, who was supposed to be helping her meet the 10% requirement for her $5,000 bail had not been returned. (Sandra left a voicemail for a friend, LaVaughn Morris, before she died.)
After days in jail with no one - no family and no friends - coming to pay a mere $500 to get Sandra out, I can imagine her being very depressed and thinking, “Damn, I screwed up again.” Being alone and more importantly, feeling like you are alone in the world, can cause suicidal desires for someone as emotionally fragile as Sandra. Cooper confirmed that in 2014, Sandra attempted suicide by taking pills when she miscarried during the early stages of pregnancy. On March 1, 2015, Sandra admitted on her Facebook page, ""I'm suffering from something that some of you all may be dealing with right now. It's a little bit of depression, as well as PTSD." It is quite possible that no one fully appreciated Sandra's repeated cries for clinical help for her emotional instability.
When I think about Sandra, isolated, in a lonely cell; with her friend not returning her calls nor picking up his phone; her family not showing up to bail her out; her possible disgust at self for again being involved in a criminal matter: and trying to determine if this arrest would cause her to lose the new job she so desperately wanted and needed; it is not unfathomable that she would commit suicide. Being alone with our own thoughts, for three days, can be a very scary place. I believe Sandra committed suicide and it makes me very sad.
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