The video of 28-year-old Sandra Bland’s arrest , as reported by the Inquisitr , is taking over social media with outrage and unanswered questions.
Hashtags such as #SandraBland and #JusticeForSandy have emerged online, after the mysterious death of Bland inside a Texas jail brought concern from family, friends, and now the world at large, reports NBC News. Although officials claim that Sandra died as a result of hanging herself, a new Change.org petition for Bland with nearly 25,000 signatures is asking the Department of Justice to take over Sandy’s case.
“On Monday July 13th 2015, Sandra Bland, a 28 year-old Black woman from the suburbs of Chicago was found dead in a Waller County, Texas jail cell. The circumstances surrounding her death are at best unclear and given known facts, very disturbing.”
In videos prior to her death, Bland can be seen talking about racism and police brutality, and that fact leaves some wondering if Sandra was targeted for her activism by police. It was a minor traffic stop violation that mushroomed into the violent video that’s gone viral online.
“I can’t feel my arms!”
“I can’t hear!”
“You slammed my head into the ground! I’m a female. Don’t you care that you slammed my head into the ground!?”
Bland can be seen on the ground in the video, and heard asking why she’s being handled roughly and why her head is being slammed by the officers. Plenty of the verbiage is bleeped out in the BBC version of the video, which has made the rounds online. Sandra says in the video that the police slammed her to the ground.
As reported by the New York Times , the online petition for Bland is a response to the multitude of questions surrounding her suspicious death. According to the petition, Sandra was stopped by police for not signaling prior to changing lanes.
For the most part, the Change.org petition seeks to help the public understand concretely if Bland’s death was truly the result of suicide or something more sinister. An independent autopsy and toxicology reports should reveal if Sandra’s injuries were related to any harm received by the police while in custody or self-inflicted by Bland.
“The Department of Justice has to conduct an independent autopsy to determine the cause of death. Was there hemorrhaging due to her head being slammed to the ground (as she exclaimed twice)?”
Unfortunately, Bland’s supposed suicide isn’t the only one appearing on social media.
#KindraChapman The day after #SandraBland is found dead — murdered — Kindra is hanged dead in her jail cell too. http://t.co/X8jPmSmZKT
— Bacchus (@theonlybacchus) July 16, 2015
[Image via Twitter]