Sheriff in Sandra Bland Case Was Fired in 2008 After Racism, Brutality Allegations

[think]

Sheriff in Sandra Bland Case Was Fired in 2008 After Racism, Brutality Allegations

By Ben Mathis-Lilley - JULY 16 2015 1:40 PM

An ABC Chicago affiliate reported late Wednesday that a Naperville, Illinois woman named Sandra Bland died in police custody in Texas on July 13 after having been arrested three days earlier following a routine traffic stop. The sheriff's department in Waller County, Texas says Bland apparently killed herself, and sheriff Glenn Smith appeared on ABC's report to say she'd been arrested after a stop for improperly changing lanes because she was "combative."

However: Video shows Bland complaining that she'd been abused by the officers arresting her, those who know her don't believe she committed suicide, and now activist-journalist Shaun King of Daily Kos has found that sheriff Smith was fired from a previous job as police chief in 2008 after several allegations that he and members of his department had engaged in racially biased behavior and police brutality.

Details are relatively sparse, but pieces by the Houston Chronicle and an area TV reporter indicate that Smith was fired by the Hempstead City Council after several allegations of police misconduct, not all of which involved racial issues. The council did not name a formal reason why Smith was terminated, but the Chronicle reported the year before the firing on an incident in which council members suspended Smith "for two weeks without pay after viewing videotapes and hearing allegations of racism from local residents against him" and other officers. That incident involved the arrest of a black man named Cory Labba; the Chronicle says Smith "acknowledged he used profanity and was unprofessional" during Labba's arrest but denied race was a motivating factor in his behavior. A Chronicle story later in 2008 on Smith's campaign to become Waller County sheriff said he may have been fired because of "incidents involving police misconduct toward African-Americans," mentioning a department raid on a home that was targeted in error and an incident in which young black men were publicly strip-searched....

Source:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/07/16/sandra_bland_sheriff_fired_racism_allegations_sheriff_glenn_smith_accused.html

[randys1]

1. How do family members not just go nuts and react accordingly, such patience.

[dumbcat]

2. Why don't you do it

for them? You seem upset enough about it.

Think about it. Maybe that's why.

ETA: My point being that the vast majority of people in real life have some modicum of self control, unlike some who post emotional rants on an internet forum.

[NaturalHigh]

3. Are you advocating they do that?

[HooptieWagon]

4. Her family has a great case for a lawsuit.

I am sure they are perusing it.
The criminal courts are corrupt and usually protect killer-cops. The DoJ doesn't seem to care. The answer is civil litigation...costing municipalities and departments millions in settlements. That will make the cost of "business as usual" to expensive to continue.

[think]

5. Certainly agree they have a case. Also the FBI has stated they will join the investigation:

FBI joins investigation into death of inmate Sandra Bland

By Adam Bennett and Josh Chapin, KHOU-TV, Houston 9:06 a.m. EDT July 17, 2015

HOUSTON — The FBI has joined the Texas Rangers in investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a woman in the Waller County jail.

The Harris County medical examiner ruled 28-year-old Sandra Bland's hanging death was a suicide.

Bland was found in her jail cell Monday morning. The Waller County Sheriff's Office said she was "not breathing from what appears to be self-inflicted asphyxiation" and CPR was immediately performed. Bland was pronounced dead shortly after.

Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith said video shows Bland was alone in her cell before she died...

Source:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/17/texas-jailed-woman-suicide-sandra-bland/30284367/

[MH1]

6. It said that on Friday she was posting bail on Saturday, so how did it get to Monday,

which is when they "found" her in her cell?

Two things come to mind -

1) the obvious foul play

2) they somehow blocked her from getting out on bond Saturday and perhaps she really was distraught enough about what was going on, to kill herself.

But to #2 let's step back a minute. THIS STARTED OVER A FREAKIN' TURN SIGNAL. She knew someone was filming after the cop put her on the ground, so she knew at least part of her version of the story would hold up - how bad could it have gotten? Certainly not bad enough to kill yourself over. UNLESS they really screwed with her mind.

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN FRIDAY AND MONDAY.

[Gothmog]

7. Waller county is near me

This county has had issues with racism for a long time