Encinia; his false arrest of Bland, right, precipitated everything else
[Black Star Editorial]
Why Does Texas Trooper Brian Encinia Have a Job After His False Arrest Led to Death of Sandra Bland?
By now all America has heard about the suspicious death of Sandra Bland in police custody after she became the victim of an obvious false arrest at the hands of Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia, after he pulled her over for “improper signaling” as she was changing lanes.
The most important question now is: why hasn’t Trooper Encinia been fired given what we know and saw?
An investigation, by Texas officials and the FBI, is now underway to determine how this woman allegedly hung herself with a garbage bag—a story that seems implausible, at best. Some will say we should wait for all the facts before we rush to judgment. However, there are enough facts known now to justify the immediate firing of Trooper Encinia who escalated the incident simply because he was carrying a badge.
He abused powers accorded law enforcement officers. In the dashcam video you can also hear him later exaggerating Bland’s conduct, presumably to rationalize his violent actions towards her and the unlawful arrest he knew he had executed.
For one thing, he should be fired just for threatening to, in his own words, “light her up,” as he is heard saying on a police dash-cam video as he threatened Ms. Bland. That represents an intent to assault Ms. Bland, with a stun-gun, when she should never have been arrested in the first place. Moreover, given the fact that other people, like Oscar Grant, have been killed when an officer claiming they believed they were using a stun gun took the life of an unarmed person, this officer should be fired right now.
Here is an even more important question: is there no legal penalty for officers who engage in false arrest?
Ms. Bland’s arrest was clearly unlawful, yet this officer is still doing “desk duty.” Isn’t there something seriously wrong here? Shouldn’t an officer who engages in false arrest be subject to arrest?
This now dead daughter of the Bland family was, supposedly, arrested for the alleged “assault of a public servant.” Going by what we’ve seen, we believe this to be a damn lie. The video on the police dash-cam, and the one provided by an onlooker, tells us another tale: that Trooper Encinia decided to assault Ms. Bland because she dared to talk back to him and didn’t extinguish the cigarette she was smoking in her car as he had demanded.
He was about to let her go and simply lost his cool and his mind.
The video clearly shows that this disgraceful excuse for a human being got angry after Bland didn’t put out the cigarette. An African-American woman who is aware of her rights—and is exercising them—was apparently too much for this White cop to bear. At that point what legal justification did he have for deciding to arrest her?
He arrested her because he was in uniform and he was armed and he was acting as a White Supremacist.
Here’s another question: when he told Ms. Bland she was under arrest, while she was still in her car, what was the charge against her at that point? It could not have been “assault of a public servant,” unless they are referring to Bland talking back.
The alleged “assault of a public servant,” charge is for allegedly kicking Encinia while he was slamming her to the ground. Neither videos supports this charge. But even assuming he was kicked, this would’ve been after he told her she was under arrest while she was still inside her car.
On the audio exchange that goes with the dash-cam we hear him telling her he was going to just give her a “warning” right before he lost his mind.
There are many other things wrong here we must contemplate; like this idea that Bland committed suicide by hanging herself with a garbage bag.
How does one hang oneself with a garbage bag? What kind of garbage bag are we talking about? Are we really supposed to believe this nonsense?
But what else should we expect from a precinct where the chief who runs it was fired from his previous job for racism—and apparently got this job because of his racist inclinations toward Black people. That would explain why this officer is still employed.
The comments of Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis should also worry us.
For while Mr. Mathis says he is investigating this case he made the claim that Ms. Bland did not exhibit “model” behavior. He also questioned her mental state—possibly to buttress the police’s suicide claims—because of a video she made months ago stating that she was a little depressed and had some PTSD.
The reality is: nearly everyone in Black America, at some point, has experienced some level of depression and anxiety because of the racist nature of America. We should also ask Mr. Mathis why Ms. Bland’s bail was set at $5,000?
Police spokesperson Capt. Brian Cantrell made this statement: “The death of Ms. Bland was a tragic incident, not one of a criminal intent or a criminal act.”
This statement is strange. Why speak of “criminal intent” if you’re telling the world this was a suicide? This phrasing says something went on in that cell that shouldn’t have.
Bland is dead because an officer decided to arrest her when he should not have.
