Been a hell of a last few days
regarding the use of force by police. Well, a hell of a last few
years particularly. 30 year old Troy Goode died two hours after
arriving at a hospital after being arrested by police after a concert
in Memphis, Tennessee. The lawyer for the family, Tim Edwards,
reported that the asthmatic was placed face down on a stretcher and
hogtied by Mississippi because he was being disruptive. “His face
was buried in the mattress of the stretcher. There was a strap over
the back of his head so he couldn't move his head. His hands and feet
were hogtied so he couldn't move those, either.” This was recorded
on video.
It is being investigated whether or not
Goode and his friends were intoxicated before the show. “That'll be
determined by the toxicology screen. Whatever was ingested, it was
done by all five of them” Edwards said. Police have already been
using the phrase “alleged LSD overdose” before any real
information has been released to disavow any responsibility. The
family meanwhile believes that excessive force may have been a
contributing factor in his death. The family has asked for an
investigation to begin but as of me writing this none have begun.
Here we have a 30 year old chemical
engineer and father that perhaps went out of control on something at
a concert and two hours after being arrested is dead. I remember back
in the late 90's cops were hogtying people left and right and
everyone talked about how inhumane it is and there needs to be a
better way to restrain someone. Apparently no one has come up with
that method yet and now a guy that should've had a rough night in the
hospital or jail to sleep it off is dead.
Next we have Sandra Bland. She was
pulled over for failure to signal and three days later found hanging
dead in her cell. Seriously, each one of these cases starts off so
small and ends with a death while in police custody. In a 49 minute
video that was slightly edited (though the police say it wasn't) you
see Bland pulled over by a policeman named Brian Encinia did
everything he could to goad her into a fight. I know how to piss
people off. This guy did, too. After coming back from his car he has
this exchange with her. Mind you. This all starts with a baited
question.
Encinia: “You okay?”
Bland: “I'm waiting on you, this is
your job.”
Encinia: “You seem very irritated.”
Bland: “I am, I really I am. I don't
know what I'm getting a ticket for, you were speeding up, tailing me,
I move over and you stop me. So, yeah I am a little irritated, but
that doesn't stop you from giving me a ticket, so give me a ticket.”
Encinia: “Are you done?”
Bland: “You asked me what was wrong
and I told you, so now I’m done yeah.”
Encinia: (asks her to put her cigarette
out)
Bland: “I'm in my car, why do I have
to put out my cigarette?”
Encinia: “Well you can step out of
the car now.”
Bland: “I don't have to step out.”
(legally she doesn't and if you are one of those people that says she
does you are part of the problem)
Encinia: “Step out of the car. Step
out of the car.”
Bland:“I'm getting removed for a
failure to signal?”
Encinia: “I'm giving you a lawful
order.” Bland says that she will call her lawyer at this point and
gets her phone. “I'm going to yank you out of here.”
Bland: “Oh, you're going to yank me
out of my car, Okay.”
Encinia: (calls for backup over a small
Black woman that he pulled over for failure to signal that just moved
to Texas recently) “Get out of the car!” he shouts as he
reaches for his Taser. “I will light you up.”
That is what the video shows. This is
how Encinia describe it in his report. “I tried to de-escalate
her, and it wasn't working at all. I put the Taser away, I tried
talking to her, trying to calm her down, and that was not working.
I'm trying to get her detained...just calm her down, saying 'stop
throwing your arms,' what not. She never swung at me, she was just
flailing, stomping around. And that's enough, that's when I detained
her.”
Someone else recorded video and in it
you can see Encinia standing over Bland as she is on the ground. She
says she can not hear after having her head slammed to the ground.
Another witness says that Encinia had his knee on her neck. Someone
from the Texas Department of Public Safety says that Bland was
arrested because she allegedly kicked Encinia and was charged with
assaulting a public servant. She was placed in a cell alone because
they believed she was a “high risk” to other inmates. After
speaking to her sister she mentioned knees in her back and thought
her arm was broken.
Encinia has been a cop for a little
over a year after working as a ingredient processing supervisor at
Blue Bell Creameries from 2008-2014. A preliminary report has already
concluded he did not follow proper protocol when making the stop.
Bland was outspoken about police
brutality and the treatment of Blacks by them. She had just gotten a
great job in Texas and was ready to start working there. I'm sure she
thought that what was happening to her would be another in the long
list of cases of Black people being manhandled or killed by law
enforcement. So how does she go from telling one jailer “I'm fine”
at 7am and found hanging in her cell at 9am? How is it the camera has
no footage from 7:34am till 9:07am? The family suspects a cover up.
Her history of being sad and/or depressed has been mentioned. Let's
say she was depressed or suicidal. It shouldn't have been in a jail
cell because she was pulled over by a supervisor of a creamery
pretending to be a cop.
I'm not really sure what to add to this
other than there is no right way to react when confronted by police.
You can only hope that you have your shit in order so your family
doesn't have to do too much in case you get beaten or killed for
walking, driving, dancing, or fitting the description. Stop thinking that you're safe because its on tape.
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