Sandra Bland: report suggests suicide by hanging as social media goes into overdrive

DID she smoke it or swallow it? It turns out large quantities of marijuana have been found in Sandra Bland’s system, as social media goes into overdrive over her mugshot.

PROSECUTORS say an autopsy report on US woman Sandra Bland is consistent with suicide by hanging, supporting initial findings that the 28-year-old took her own life after a routine traffic stop.

Ms Bland was found dead in a Texas jail cell days after being pulled over by an officer for failing to signal a lane change in a case that has gripped a nation.

Ms Bland’s family have disputed the suicide finding, saying she was looking forward to starting a new university job.

However, Ms Bland posted a video to her Facebook page in March, saying she was suffering from “a little bit of depression as well as PTSD,” or post-traumatic stress disorder. At least one friend has said she was just venting after a bad day.

Officials investigating the case have said they are handling it as they would a murder probe, Reuters reports.

Waller County Assistant District Attorney Warren Diepraam said overnight the autopsy evidence also showed high levels of marijuana in Ms Bland’s system, which she may have smoked or swallowed.

“The evidence that we reviewed up to this point supports those findings,” he said of the initial suicide ruling.

Her death comes after nearly a year of heightened national scrutiny of police and their dealings with black suspects, especially those who have been killed by officers or die in police custody. It has resonated on social media, with posts questioning the official account and featuring the hashtags #JusticeForSandy and #WhatHappenedToSandyBland.

As anger and confusion swirls, social media users have been trying to fill in the blanks with some truly disturbing speculation, including the far-fetched theory that Ms Bland, 28, was already dead by the time she had her police mugshot taken, fuelling the rumours that she was the victim of police brutality and an official cover-up.

Twitter users have suggested it appears she is lying down in the photo, rather than standing up against a wall, however copies of her booking sheet also circulating online appear to show her posing side-on for the camera.

People have speculated on social media that Sandra Bland is actually dead in this picture.

Ms Bland was arrested on July 10 near Prairie View, Texas, for failing to signal a lane change. Police said she became “argumentative and uncooperative” but footage of the arrest captured on dash cam has since revealed the hostility of the arresting officer, who threatened Bland “I will light you up” with his Taser stun gun.

In the audio from the video, posted to YouTube, the woman can be heard saying: “You just slammed my head into the ground. Do you not even care about that? I can’t even hear”. She says she can’t feel her arm and pleads with officers to get off of her.

The arresting officer, Brian Encinia, said in an affidavit that after handcuffing Ms Bland for becoming combative, she swung her elbows at him and kicked him in his right shin.

Encinia said he then used force “to subdue Bland to the ground,” and that she continued to fight back.

Ms Bland was taken into custody and charged with assaulting an officer. She was transferred to a jail cell in Hempstead and found dead three days later, hanging in her cell what police said was a “tragic” incident.

She was found with a plastic rubbish bag around her neck in a cell designed for up to five women. Officer Encina has been put on desk duty while

Police haven’t responded officially to the accusations. But the number of questions surrounding the Bland case continues to rise including, why was she arrested in the first place, why was she held for so long in jail and why were police so aggressive?

Sandra Bland is led away from her car by the police officer.

The moment the officer orders Sandra Bland from her car.

The Waller County jail cell where Sandra Bland was found dead.

The unanswered questions have fuelled fears her death was at least partly due to racism.

The conspiracy theories have risen despite the post-mortem results confirming the coroner’s view that her death was the result of suicide.

Marijuana was also in Bland’s system, though officials are seeking additional tests to confirm that finding, county prosecutor Warren Diepraam told reporters.

Flowers and other items are left in a tribute for Sandra Bland.

An lawyer for the Bland family, Cannon Lambert, said the family wanted a second autopsy conducted.

“The family’s confidence is shaken by the continued discrepancies that are surfacing,” Mr Lambert told Reuters.

Bland’s body was returned to the Chicago area, where she lived, on Wednesday in preparation for a funeral tomorrow.

Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith, whose office is responsible for the jail where Bland died, told Reuters the jailers on duty when Ms Bland was admitted felt she was not a suicide risk based on their observations and her statement on the questionnaire that she was not depressed at the time.

The jail was cited three days after her death by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards for failing to complete visual face-to-face observations of inmates every 60 minutes as required by state regulations.

In the days after her death, Ms Bland’s sister said people who “knew her, truly knew her”, know that suicide is “unfathomable right now”.

“Based on the Sandy I knew, this is unfathomable to me,” Ms Cooper said.

“She was someone who was extremely spontaneous, spunky, outgoing, truly filled with life and joy. So when you think through the circumstances shared with us through this point, this is unimaginable.”

If you or someone you know is in need of crisis or suicide prevention support, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.au/gethelp

Originally published as Sandra Bland: report suggests suicide by hanging as social media goes into overdrive