Changing lanes [while black] (Digby)

[Mass]

This has been jarring me all week-end.
In this case, and in the case of Kindra a few days earlier,

Then, there was the case of 18-year-old Kindra Chapman, arrested on Tuesday in Alabama for allegedly stealing a cellphone. According to AL.com: “Jailers last saw her alive at 6:30 p.m. She was found unresponsive at 7:50 p.m. Authorities said she used a bed sheet to hang herself.”

Lives lost for so little. My first question is, independently of the circumstance of their death which is a totally other question, WHY WERE THEY IN JAIL IN THE FIRST PLACE --

Changing lanes while black
by

Tom Sullivan

...

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Bland failed to signal that she was changing lanes so a trooper pulled her over. The trooper was going to give her a written warning but Bland became argumentative and uncooperative, officials say.
The Chicago Tribune provides additional details:

...
However, the Houston Chronicle reported late Monday:


The thing I cannot get out of my head is that this professional woman is dead after failing to signal a lane change [while black]. Who hasn't done that? But for African Americans, everyday acts from walking to shopping to changing lanes [while black] has become a sick version of that stupid game we play with fortune cookies. Only this game can be deadly.

* We "yadda-yadda" African Americans dying in police custody. Ending both was the point of the #BLM action on Saturday.

[seveneyes]

1. Was she driving with a suspended license?

Are all the facts in about the arrest yet? I don't think we have gotten the whole story.

[Mass]

2. Says who?

[seveneyes]

12. NBC news

http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/Suburban-Woman-Found-Dead-in-Jail-Had-Previous-Encounters-With-Police-316025661.html

March 8, 2014 – Approximately five days after her stop in Naperville, Bland was stopped by police in Lombard and charged with two counts of driving under the influence; speeding 15-20 mph over the speed limit; improper lane usage; disobeying a traffic control signal; failing to signal when changing lanes; driving on a suspended license, and operating an uninsured motor vehicle. The court found her guilty of one DUI charge, and all the other charges were dismissed. She received court supervision and was fined, and court records show that she still owes $3,132.00 in this case. (A spokesman with the Illinois Secretary of State’s office says Bland’s driver’s license was automatically suspended for six months – until November of 2014 – as a result of this DUI conviction.)

During that suspension – in May of 2014 – Naperville Police cited Bland for speeding 15-20 mph over the limit. According to the DuPage County court docket, Bland “fail[ed] to comply” in the case in June of 2014 and again in August of 2014, when the court ordered the Illinois Secretary of State to be notified. Records show a $45.00 balance due in this case, though a court spokesman says the actual amount owed is $165.00. The outcome in this case is not clear.

These notifications would have come up when Bland next tried to renew her license, according to the Illinois Secretary of State spokesman, and she would be required to pay all balances due.

[Mass]

15. One year ago. This is not why she was arrested in TX.

[seveneyes]

16. Of course not. Lots of things come up with a reg check when pulled over

This just shows her history of issues with driving infractions, DUI, suspensions, previous encounters with the law etc. I suspect the alleged assault on the officer that pulled her over is the cause of arrest.
...
Sandra Bland – who was vocal on the issue of police encounters with African Americans in the months leading up to her death in a jail cell in Texas -- had at least 10 encounters herself with police in both Illinois and Texas in past years.

And NBC5 Investigates has found that – at the time of her death last Friday -- she still owed a total of $7,579.00 in court fines resulting from five traffic stops in various Chicago suburbs (including a DUI), and she had been cited several times for her failure to pay those fines.

[1StrongBlackMan]

4. Yes ... We don't know who killed her. n/t

[luvspeas]

6. so right...

I'll reserve judgement until the oppressors tell me what they want me to think happened.

[marym625]

3. Sheneque Proctor too.

On Sandra Bland, They just can't stop lying. This has a link to an interview with the Sheriff or Chief, whatever, after the press conference and it's different than what was stated there.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026994017

[gollygee]

5. And to be clear, she was targeted (and eventually killed) because of race and only race, not class

She was a professional on the way to her professional job. This was not due to poverty. Racism exists for all people of color, and it is potentially deadly for any person of color.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. truth!!

poverty is a huge problem but racism and poverty are not the same thing.

[JustAnotherGen]

9. Thanks gollygee for this!

I think as of late - DU needs constant reminders that the color of one's skin - not one's bank account - is how they experience America.

[gollygee]

11. Being poor sucks too

but having money doesn't save you from racism. In fact, being wealthy and a person of color can create suspicion - as it did for Trayvon Martin, who was assumed to be out of place in his middle class neighborhood. And poor people of color get hit by both poverty and racism.

I'm just tired of seeing people say that racism dosn't exist for middle class and wealthy people. That's stupid, insulting, and willfully ignorant. This is killing people. It isn't a game where you win points by denying it.

[Starry Messenger]

10. Boom.

[seveneyes]

13. Link?

http://m.snopes.com/2015/07/16/sandra-bland/

The Texas Rangers and the FBI are investigating the circumstances of Bland’s death. Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis pledged a fair and impartial investigation into her death.

“The death of Ms. Sandra Bland will not be swept under the rug,” Mathis said.

He said a surveillance camera inside the jail shows the hallway leading to Bland’s cell door.

“We cannot find where anyone goes into her cell from the hallway to do her any harm, from the last time she was physically viewed alive,” he said.

[2naSalit]

14. I wonder...

if there was only a camera in the hallway... was there another point of entry to the cell not monitored on camera? and was there a camera for viewing inside the cell? Serial killers often have methods in place to evade detection. This racism seems to provide victims for serial killers who manage to get badges and taxpayer funding.

[d_r]

7. lane change

means cop was looking for a reason to pull her over and she wasnt speeding