9:30 a.m.
Texas authorities are disputing accusations of withholding evidence in a heated exchange with lawmakers over why cellphone video of Sandra Bland’s 2015 traffic stop never publicly surfaced until now.
Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, attended the hearing Friday at the Texas Capitol. Her 28-year-old daughter was found hanging in a jail cell near Houston three days after being stopped for not signaling a lane change.
Bland, who was black, recorded a 39-second cellphone video during the stop as a white state trooper pointed a stun gun and ordered her out of the car.
The footage never publicly surfaced until this month . Democratic state Rep. Garnet Coleman scolded state officials and said the clip shows that the trooper had no reason to fear for his life.
Texas investigators said they’ve been transparent and said the cellphone video was referenced in a case report.
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12 a.m.
Texas authorities are expected to face sharp questioning over why cellphone video Sandra Bland took during her confrontational 2015 traffic stop never publicly surfaced until now.
A state House committee wants answers at a hearing Friday after the 39-second clip emerged this month. Bland was found hanging in a jail cell near Houston three days after she was pulled over for not signaling a lane change.
The death of the 28-year-old black woman set off protests nationwide.
Her cellphone video shows Trooper Brian Encinia, who is white, drawing a stun gun while ordering Bland out of the car.
Texas authorities say the video was given to Bland’s family attorney with other evidence. But the family says they never saw it.”
Good for Austin. I was unaware of the cell phone video . And the questioning of Sandra’s death continues.
*Austin has 5 colleges and universities. Huston-Tilloston was founded in 1875, (only four years after the state founded the University of Texas,) as a Black college and has been a recognized part of Austin’s history and culture to the present. About the time I was leaving Austin the college was moving to become a University level institution and deservedly so.