Cop Who Arrested Sandra Bland in Traffic Stop Indicted and Fired

Cop Who Arrested Sandra Bland in Traffic Stop Indicted and Fired
In this July 10, 2015, file frame taken from dashcam video provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia confronts Sandra Bland after a minor traffic infraction in Waller County,Texas. A grand jury indicted Encinia on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, with the misdemeanor charge. Encinia has been on desk duty since Bland was found dead in her cell in July. Her death was ruled a suicide. (Texas Department of Public Safety via AP, File)
The Associated Press
1/6/2016
Updated:
1/6/2016

HEMPSTEAD, Texas  — A Texas state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland after a contentious traffic stop last summer was fired Wednesday after being charged with perjury for allegedly lying about his confrontation with the black woman who died three days later in jail.

Trooper Brian Encinia claimed in an affidavit that Bland was “combative and uncooperative” after he pulled her over and ordered her out of her car. The grand jury identified that affidavit in charging Encinia with perjury, special prosecutor Shawn McDonald said Wednesday night.

Hours after the indictment, the Texas Department of Public Safety said it would “begin termination proceedings” against Encinia, who has been on paid desk duty since Bland was found dead in her cell.

In this undated photo provided by the Bland family, Sandra Bland poses for a photo. A grand jury indicted Trooper Brian Encinia on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, with the misdemeanor charge. Encinia has been on desk duty since Bland was found dead in her cell in July. Her death was ruled a suicide. (Courtesy of Bland family via AP, File)
In this undated photo provided by the Bland family, Sandra Bland poses for a photo. A grand jury indicted Trooper Brian Encinia on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, with the misdemeanor charge. Encinia has been on desk duty since Bland was found dead in her cell in July. Her death was ruled a suicide. (Courtesy of Bland family via AP, File)

Bland’s arrest and death — which authorities ruled a suicide — provoked national outrage and drew the attention of the Black Lives Matter movement. Protesters linked Bland to other black suspects who were killed in confrontations with police or died in police custody, including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Freddie Gray in Baltimore.

Video of the stop shows Encinia drawing his stun gun and telling Bland, “I will light you up!” She can later be heard off-camera screaming that he’s about to break her wrists and complaining that he knocked her head into the ground.

Encinia’s affidavit stated he “removed her from her vehicle to further conduct a safer traffic investigation,” but grand jurors “found that statement to be false,” said McDonald, one of five special prosecutors appointed to investigate.

Screenshot/YouTube
Screenshot/YouTube