Texas bartender arrested for serving shooter before deadly rampage
PLANO, Texas — Authorities in suburban Dallas have arrested a bartender who served drinks to a man who later went to his estranged wife’s home and fatally shot her and seven others as they gathered to watch the Dallas Cowboys play.
Lindsey Glass was arrested last week and charged with a misdemeanor violation of “sale to certain persons.”
The law prohibits the sale of alcohol to a “habitual drunkard or an intoxicated or insane person.”
Authorities say 32-year-old Spencer Hight in September 2017 already showed signs of intoxication at the Plano bar before leaving for the home of Meredith Hight and opening fire.
Spencer Hight was shot and killed by responding officers.
Glass had tried to persuade Hight not to drive and her attorney, Scott Palmer, said her arrest “is not in the interest of justice.”
via: https://pix11.com/2019/05/07/texas-bartender-arrested-for-serving-shooter-before-deadly-rampage/
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There’s a push for classes on the Bible in public schools
Legislators across the country have reignited the fight for, and debate over so-called “Bible literacy classes” — elective courses in public schools about Scriptures’ impact.
Alabama, Florida, Missouri, North Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia are among the states that have seen Bible literacy bills so far in 2019. Several of those efforts have fallen along the wayside.
While advocates for such classes believe students ought to be able to learn about the Bible’s influence on world history, culture and language, opponents tout separation of church and state and their concerns that teachers might possibly stray into proselytizing.
Missouri’s House Bill 267, nearly identical to other states’ drafted legislation, allows and encourages public high schools to adopt elective classes focusing on the history, writing style and influence of “the Hebrew Scriptures or New Testament.”
Doug Jacobson has a unique perspective on the matter: He’s pastor of Eureka Baptist Church in Richland, Missouri, and elementary superintendent at the small public Swedeborg R-3 School District.
Jacobson — who has officiated at weddings of former students and is asked to pray for the families of students — agrees with those who say a comparative religion class could be a less controversial route for educators, rather than emphasizing the Bible.
“Why not open it up to world religions and all different faiths, then you’re not trying to proselytize anyone into any particular religion or denomination,” he said.
The pastor-superintendent said that many of the Bible’s core moral teachings are already ingrained in the way that we teach children.
But backers of bills that promote a “Judeo-Christian framework” for classes were buoyed earlier this year by a January tweet by President Donald Trump, “Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible. Starting to make a turn back? Great!”
Florida and the King James version of the Bible
Several of the Bible literacy bills have already been struck down or are no longer being considered in current sessions.
Legislation filed in Florida — which recently died in committee — is typical of the debate over the Bible and public classrooms.
“One thing that the Bible does teach is wisdom,” Rep. Mike Hill, co-sponsor of Florida’s House Bill 195, told CNN last month. “I don’t think anyone could deny that we so desperately need wisdom in our public schools right now.”
Rep. Anthony Sabatini, a fellow Republican co-sponsor of the state’s Bible literacy bill, told CNN that classes would focus on the Bible as a work of literature, specifically the King James Bible, an English translation used in Protestant churches.
“The King James Bible is considered one of the two or three greatest works of literature in Western civilization. This is a class that recognizes that and focuses on the language of the book,” Sabatini said.
Mark Chancey, an expert on the political, academic and constitution issues raised by Bible courses in public schools, says selecting a specific translation of the Bible can lead to unconstitutional territory. The professor cited the Philadelphia nativist riots of 1844 that broke out partially over the use of the King James version in public schools and what some called anti-Catholic rhetoric.
“If a course says, ‘We’re going to use the King James,’ then they’re basically — knowingly or not — promoting Protestantism,” Chancey said during an interview with CNN. He said that there is nothing wrong with examining this translation, but the most constitutional approach would include multiple translations.
Linda K. Wertheimer, author of “Faith Ed: Teaching about Religion in an Age of Intolerance,” said while Bible literacy classes could be beneficial, they generally don’t aim to educate students for the sake of critical thinking.
“The question is, are they really creating these courses to improve both biblical literacy and religious literacy?” she told CNN. “Or are these particular courses that are being started right now part of the effort from the religious right or evangelical Christians to push Christianity back into the schools?”
Project Blitz and the backlash
The movement behind Bible literacy classes has ebbed and flowed throughout the past 20 years, but is the most emboldened during the years under a Republican leadership in the White House.
The Republican Party put the Bible literacy push into writing in its official 2016 platform: “A good understanding of the Bible being indispensable for the development of an educated citizenry, we encourage state legislatures to offer the Bible in a literature curriculum as an elective in America’s high schools.”
A key supporter of such classes is the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation and additional evangelical conservative groups, who together created Project Blitz. This aims “to protect the free exercise of traditional Judeo-Christian religious values and beliefs in the public square, and to reclaim and properly define the narrative which supports such beliefs.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has been fighting Project Blitz for more than a year, arguing that “church-state separation as the only way to ensure freedom of religion.”
The group sent a letter to Florida legislators in response to the pending legislation, warning of the potential for proselytizing and putting pressure on pupils to take classes “designed to promote a particular religion.”
CNN reached out several times to the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation for comment but received no reply.
Are classes a Trojan horse for a bigger agenda?
Schools districts that currently or may one day offer Bible literacy classes are walking a potential tightrope.
Who would be qualified to teach such an elective course?
The Missouri bill would have instruction in a social studies setting and establish guidelines “in maintaining and accommodating the diverse religious views, traditions and perspectives and students in the school.” A student would be able to use his or her own translation of the text.
Chancey, a professor at Southern Methodist University, said that regardless of a teacher’s intent, missteps happen — which can land them in legal trouble.
He first began examining classroom curriculum for dozens of Bible classes across Texas during the 2005-06 school year, then even more in 2011-12.
Chancey said that his studies found most of the classes were problematic. Throughout his report, Chancey laid out examples of proselytization of students, teaching elements of the Bible as fact, use of pseudoscience, among other things that some teachers were practicing. Two Texas school districts dropped the classes several years ago.
Opponents see such school offerings as a Trojan horse to bring far-right Christian views into schools.
Heather Weaver, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, says it’s rare that these classes hold legal muster.
“Although they are often dressed up in neutral terms and they say these courses are not allowed to promote religion, these schools know that when it comes to implementing these courses, students are subjected to religious proselytizing and minority students are subjected to feeling excluded when these courses are offered,” she said.
State Rep. Aaron McWilliams co-sponsored North Dakota’s Bible literacy bill, which failed to advance to a final vote earlier this year.
It would have allowed students to replace any half-unit of their three required social studies credits with Bible studies. The North Dakota division of the ACLU called the bill “blatantly unconstitutional” and said school districts would likely be subject to litigation.
McWilliams told CNN he introduced the bill for his “mainly Judeo-Christian” constituency. “You can like or hate Christianity, but it’s very hard to expel the influence that it’s had on world history,” McWilliams said.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/05/07/theres-a-push-for-classes-on-the-bible-in-public-schools/
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Lyft driver sexually assaulted passenger during multiple stops in Chicago
CHICAGO — A Lyft driver is accused of sexually assaulting a passenger at two separate stops in the Chicago suburbs on the same trip last week, according to WGN.
Alexander Sowa is charged with kidnapping and criminal sexual assault.
Police allege the 34-year-old picked up a woman who requested a ride using the Lyft app about 6:45 a.m. Thursday. She wanted to go from suburban Elk Grove to Des Plaines.
Sowa drove the passenger, who had been drinking, to a parking lot near Busse Road and Oakton Avenue in Elk Grove, where he sexually assaulted her, police said.
Sowa then drove around before taking the woman to a parking garage in the first block of South Emerson Street in Mount Prospect, where he sexually assaulted her again, according to authorities. Police said the woman was able to escape and find someone to call 911.
Lyft released the following statement: “Safety is our top priority. The behavior described is deeply disturbing and absolutely unacceptable. Immediately upon becoming aware of the allegations we permanently banned the driver from the Lyft community and reached out to the passenger to express our support. We have been in touch with law enforcement to offer our assistance with their investigation.”
Detectives from Mount Prospect and Elk Grove investigated the case.
Sowa was arrested Thursday. Bond was set at $10,000 at a weekend hearing. He will next appear in court Tuesday.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Utah teens in polygamous group travel to Colorado to marry their cousins
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A woman who says she was pushed to marry her cousin when she was a teenager is now trying to raise awareness about the marriage laws in Colorado.
Shanell DeRieux was born and raised in a polygamist group.
“I got married to a cousin at 18 years old,” DeRieux told KDVR.
On July 3, 2008, DeRieux and two of her younger half-sisters drove to Grand Junction with their cousins and parents to become legally married.
“Out of me and my sisters, I was the only one who was 18. The other two were 16,” DeRieux said. The grooms were 22.
They all belonged to the Davis County Cooperative Society also known as the Kingston Group. They left their homes in the Salt Lake area and crossed the border into Colorado to marry their cousins at the Mesa County Courthouse.
“We took a trip in a 15-passenger van. We took a trip to get married,” DeRieux said.
It’s illegal to marry a cousin in Utah unless one is over the age of child bearing years or 55 years of age. Colorado is one of 19 states where it is legal to marry one’s first cousin.
“We walked into the courthouse, filled out the paperwork and basically walked out with our marriage licenses,” said DeRieux, who said she is a former member of the sect.
Colorado does not require an official ceremony to marry.
DeRieux’s father, John Kingston, signed as a witness to the weddings. Three of his wives, mothers to the newlyweds, also made the trip. The parents of the 16-year-olds filled out papers for the marriage licenses.
“I didn’t choose to get married, I was pushed,” DeRieux told KDVR last month.
DeRieux now stars with two of her sisters in “Escaping Polygamy” on Lifetime network. She left her cousin who became her husband and has since happily re-married.
“I personally don’t think first cousins should be married,” DeRieux said.
The former Davis County Cooperative Society member is speaking out to raise awareness.
“Oh my gosh, I can’t even tell you how many of my cousins have married cousins,” DeRieux said.
She said her wedding day marked the beginning of an abusive relationship.
“The reason they pursue a license is to make it harder, specifically, to leave.” DeRieux said.
The former polygamist told KDVR the Kingston Group uses marriage to control women in the society. DeRieux explained that men can go outside the group to marry, but women cannot.
KDVR wanted to know how often Utah teens travel to Mesa County to marry, so the station reviewed hundreds of marriage licenses and consulted with The Salt Lake Tribune.
Actual statistics of cousin marriages are not available since the state does not track marriages between cousins nor release marriage documents.
Marriage applications only ask if couples are related and there are no consequences for lying since marrying your first cousin is legal in Colorado.
Salt Lake Tribune reporter Nate Carlisle has covered polygamy for five years and has researched teen marriage between Utah couples in Colorado.
“When you go through the marriage records enough, you see some common last names,” Carlisle said.
KDVR found seven marriage licenses between April 2018 and thus far this year between couples from the Salt Lake area.
Colorado marriage license between Utah cousins
Carlisle also identified several cousin marriages taking place in Colorado over the last 20 years.
“I was a little surprised not just cousin marriage is still legal in Colorado, but that it has created a small industry of people traveling to Colorado,” Carlisle said.
Carlisle told us even though he’s uncovered several cousin marriages, he found nothing illegal.
“At least a half-dozen times a year, there are kids traveling to Grand Junction, Colorado to marry their cousins,” Carlisle said.
Colorado is the closest state to Utah that allows cousin marriages.
KDVRT tried reaching out to the Kingston Group without success.
The sect’s spokesman Kent Johnson had previously told The Salt Lake Tribune, “The DCCS reaffirms that each individual has their free agency to choose whom and when they will marry. They should refrain from this decision until they can be well-informed to make a mature and thoughtful decision before entering into marriage.”
Long-time Mesa County Clerk and current treasurer Sheila Reiner said they uphold the state statue.
“We are following the law. It doesn’t mean we are condoning anything,” Reiner said.
Reiner also doesn’t think government can tell people who they can and cannot love.
“I think we live in a free country,” Reiner said,
Colorado lawmakers did not debate cousin marriages, but they did recently approve changes to teen marriage laws. Gov. Jared Polis is expected to sign legislation banning marriage under the age of 15. The bill also requires a judge’s approval for marriage of 16- and 17-year-old teenagers.
Utah lawmakers raised the state’s minimum marriage age to 16 in March.
“Escaping Polygamy” follows its stars, DeRieux, Andrea Brewer and Jessica Christensen, as they help rescue members of fundamentalist Mormon sects in Utah and elsewhere.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
In Brooklyn, two new social clubs emerge to cater to people of color: ‘A club just for us, by us’
BROOKLYN — In the heart of an ever-evolving and ever-gentrifying Brooklyn, there is a push to create a professional and emotional support network for a familiar, but specific demographic.
The Gentleman’s Factory one of these social clubs for men of color, is approaching full capacity at 100 paid members with more than 400 other names on a waiting list. Jeff Lindor founded The Gentleman’s Factory two years ago on Flatbush Avenue, across the street from Prospect Park, when he realized there weren’t enough spaces uniquely for men of color.
“I could always recall whenever I saw a person of color in graduate school, or in corporate America, I was super excited, because I always felt like I was the only one there, right? So it’s really great to be amongst people who share the unique experiences so you can all enhance and build with each other,” Lindor said.
U.S. Army veteran and Gentleman’s Factory member Tony Reid hails from Long Island’s North Shore, and owns Drone Tech UAS.
“When it stood out to me on LinkedIn, I said, ‘Wow, there’s actually an area where I can go to, where I can actually speak to other people that look like me,'” he said. “I was looking for an area where people of color, where we can actually, take our intelligence, and be able to sit at a roundtable and discuss the many things that are missing.”
The Gentleman’s Factory doesn’t have any flashy street signage, underscoring its exclusivity. The only reason to go upstairs is if you already know what’s upstairs. But this isn’t just a social club. Its founder, still carrying memories from his days at the Department of Corrections, wants to change the narrative of what it means when mainstream society sees a group of black and brown men getting together.
We mentioned to Lindor that there would likely be people reading this report who say, “This is a club just for men of color? That sounds pretty racist. What if a bunch of white guys were to go out and say ‘We want to found a club just for us, by us, to kind of bond with other white men.”
Lindor responded: “I would say that our approach is not even from an emotional standpoint, but from a data standpoint. It really speaks to the discrimination that we faced historically.”
Men of color are not alone in facing those historical challenges.
Naj Austin, 28, says Ethel’s Club – named after her late grandmother – will be open to both men and women of color when it debuts this fall.
“Since we’ve gotten started in January 2019, we have over 3,000 people signed up on our waiting list. What we look for in our members is a similar ethos to ours, which is an appreciation and an understanding for the advancement of people of color. The space is giving a group of people who are often marginalized, and often not heard – a place to be heard,” said Austin.
Ethel’s Club will also be membership based and, in accordance with anti-discrimination laws, like The Gentleman’s Factory, welcomes anyone and everyone to apply for membership.
“Every Ethel’s location will play home to a multipurpose oasis that is meant for you to be a better version of yourself,” Austin said. “So you will have a workspace, you will have a social lounge. There will be a room meant for events and specific kinds of programming.”
But make no mistake: entrepreneurs like Naj Austin and Jeff Lindor say demand exists beyond their borders in Brooklyn. They are both working to open social clubs for people of color across New York City and, eventually, across the country.
“A huge thing we are trying to solve for is wellness within the black and brown community,” Austin said.
2 in custody in Colorado school shooting that injured multiple students
A shooting at a suburban Denver middle school injured seven people Tuesday, and two suspects were in custody, authorities said.
Douglas County Undersheriff Holly Nicholson-Kluth says there is a possible eighth injury and doesn’t believe there are any other shooters, but tactical teams were still searching room by room. She did not know if there were fatalities or other details about the victims or the extent of their injuries.
Lines of firetrucks, ambulances and law enforcement vehicles from multiple agencies were at the school and medical helicopters landed on a grassy field.
The shooting occurred at the middle school at STEM School Highlands Ranch, a public charter with more than 1,850 students in kindergarten through 12th grades.
The sheriff’s office said deputies responded around 1:50 p.m. to the school in the Highlands Ranch community about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Denver.
Nicholson-Kluth said police and deputies got there almost immediately and heard shots as they arrived. The school is near a sheriff’s department substation.
The sheriff’s office directed parents to a nearby recreational center to pick up their children.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Woman tried to trespass on CIA grounds while asking to speak to ‘Agent Penis’, police say
Article via Independent
A woman was arrested after she repeatedly tried to enter CIA headquarters and asked to speak with “Agent Penis”, according to police.
Jennifer Hernandez, 58, claimed she had applied for a job at the agency and had an appointment with her recruiter at the complex in Langley, Virginia.
She was first stopped by security when she attempted to walk in through the main vehicle entrance on 22 April.
When her story failed to check out, a CIA police officer told her she could be arrested for trespassing if she did not leave.
Ms Hernandez then walked off, only to return on 1 May in a Lyft car. She was given a written warning and again told to leave.
The next day she returned in an Uber and stated that her phone was off and she wanted to “speak to her recruiter”, according to the criminal complaint filed by police.
She left after being interviewed by police but returned on 3 May to ask for her North Carolina ID card, which had been left there on a previous visit.
Ms Hernandez also requested “to speak to Agent Penis”, according to the criminal complaint.
She was given back her ID card and escorted out to the bus stop.
Officers waited with her until the bus arrived but she refused to board it and said: “I am not leaving.”
She was arrested and charged with a Class B misdemeanour before being transferred to Alexandria city jail.
Social media effect ‘tiny’ in teenagers, large study finds
Article via BBC
The effects of social media use on teenage life satisfaction are limited and probably “tiny”, a study of 12,000 UK adolescents suggests.
Family, friends and school life all had a greater impact on wellbeing, says the University of Oxford research team.
It claims its study is more in-depth and robust than previous ones.
And it urged companies to release data on how people use social media in order to understand more about the impact of technology on young people’s lives.
The study, published in the journal PNAS, attempts to answer the question of whether teenagers who use social media more than average have lower life satisfaction, or whether adolescents with lower life satisfaction use more social media.
Past research on the relationship between screens, technology and children’s mental health has often been contradictory.
Trivial effect
Prof Andrew Przybylski and Amy Orben, from the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, say it is often based on limited evidence which does not give the full picture.
Their study concluded that most links between life satisfaction and social media use were “trivial”, accounting for less than 1% of a teenager’s wellbeing – and that the effect of social media was “not a one-way street”.
Prof Przybylski, director of research at the institute, said: “99.75% of a person’s life satisfaction has nothing to do with their use of social media.”
The study, which took place between 2009 and 2017, asked thousands of 10 to 15-year-olds to say how long they spent using social media on a normal school day and also rate how satisfied they were with different aspects of life.
They found more effects of time spent on social media in girls, but they were tiny and no larger than effects found in boys.
Less than half of these effects were statistically significant, they said.
“Parents shouldn’t worry about time on social media – thinking about it that way is wrong,” Prof Przybylski said.
“We are fixated on time – but we need to retire this notion of screen time.
“The results are not showing evidence for great concern.”
The researchers said it was now important to identify young people at greater risk from certain effects of social media, and find out other factors that were having an impact on their wellbeing.
They plan to meet social media companies soon to discuss how they can work together to learn more about how people use apps – not just the time spent on them.
‘First small step’
Ms Orben, co-study author and psychology lecturer at University of Oxford, said the industry must release their usage data and support independent research.
“Access is key to understanding the many roles that social media plays in the lives of young people” she said.
Dr Max Davie, officer for health improvement at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, backed the call for companies to collaborate with scientists and called the study “the first small step”.
However, he said there were other issues to explore, such as screen time’s interference with other important activities like sleep, exercise and time with family or friends.
“We recommend that families follow our guidance published earlier this year and continue to avoid screen use for one hour before bed, since there are other reasons beside mental health for children to need a good night’s sleep.”
- Find out more about how to help children be safe, happy and healthy online at BBC children’s website, Own it.
8 people allegedly disfigured by exploding cans of cooking spray like Pam, sue Conagra
Article via USAToday
Eight people are suing Conagra, the maker of Pam and other cooking sprays, because they say the cans exploded and severely burned and disfigured them.
The half a dozen lawsuits, filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago Tuesday morning, allege that Conagra designed and produced cooking-spray cans which were defective, especially when close to kitchen heat sources such as stoves and grills where this food product tends to be used.
Conagra failed to warn consumers of the danger, the court filings charge.
“When Pam is used correctly, as instructed, it is a 100% safe and effective product,” the Chicago-based company said in a statement. “Pam Cooking Spray is used safely and properly by millions of people every day and several times a day.”
The plaintiffs are:
- Maria Mariano, whose canister of Wellsley Farms Cooking Spray on a counter near the stove in her Staten Island, N.Y., home, exploded as she was boiling water on April 5.
- Raveen Sugantharaj, who was burned by an exploding can of Pam Cooking Spray in his Indianapolis home on March 6.
- Paytene Pivonka and Jacob Dalton, whose Pam Cooking Spray on a wall shelf above the stove where they were cooking in their Provo, Utah, home exploded and burned them on Nov. 6.
- Andrea Bearden and Brandon Banks, who were burned in their Mount Carmel, Illinois, home, on May 19 when the can of Pam Cooking Spray on a counter beside their stove exploded.
- Reveriano Duran, a cook at of the Berryhill Baja Grill in Houston, who on July 16, 2017, moved a canister of Sysco Cooking Spray from the left side of a shelf near the grill top to the right side and then was burned when it exploded.
- Y’Tesia Taylor, who was burned and blinded in one eye on July 15, 2017, when a canister of Pam Cooking Spray, which she’d just used to spray a baking dish with and then placed on a rolling wooden utility cart next to the stove where she was cooking, exploded as she finished putting the dish in the oven in her Greenville, Texas, home.
Conagra said that all Pam Cooking Sprays include clear instructions on both the front and back of the packaging that it should be used responsibly due to its flammability and that it shouldn’t be left on a stove or near a heat source, sprayed near an open flame or stored above 120°F.”
The new cans “were designed and manufactured so that when the can buckled and the u-shaped vents on the bottom of the canister opened, the internal contents of the canister would escape through the vents and the pressure inside the can would be reduced,” the lawsuits allege.
J. Craig Smith of Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, which represents the victims in these cases, explained that in 2011, after decades, Conagra switched to a new kind of aerosol can – primarily for cans 10 ounces or larger, primarily sold at wholesale retail chains – as a cost-saving measure. The design makes the can more likely to explode at lower temperatures than intended.
“Perhaps more alarming is the fact that, to this day, Conagra apparently refuses to institute a nationwide recall to ensure that the defective cans sitting on store shelves right now are removed before someone else suffers permanent injury from an explosion,” he said in a statement. “Each day that these cans remain on store shelves, Conagra’s negligence puts consumers in danger.”
Conagra’s other brands include Healthy Choice, Vlasic, Birds Eye, Marie Callender’s, Reddi-wip and Slim Jim.
Sandra Bland, It Turns Out, Recorded Her Own Video of Traffic Stop Confrontation
Article via NYTimes
As Trooper Brian Encinia angrily threatened her with a stun gun from just outside her car window, Sandra Bland recorded the encounter on her cellphone, shown in a newly released 39-second video that has prompted Ms. Bland’s family to call for a renewed investigation into her arrest and death nearly four years ago.
Ms. Bland, a 28-year-old African-American from Chicago, was taken into custody in southeast Texas following the confrontational 2015 traffic stop and was found hanging in a jail cell three days later in what was officially ruled a suicide. The case, which drew international attention, intensified outrage over the treatment of black people by white police officers and was considered a turning point in the Black Lives Matter movement.
The video surfaced for the first time publicly Monday night in an investigative report on the Dallas television station WFAA that included interviews with Ms. Bland’s family and supporters, who accused officials of concealing information that they say should have been made public early in the investigation.
The authorities released the trooper’s dashcam video days after Ms. Bland’s death but the fact that Ms. Bland recorded the encounter from the front seat of her car was not public knowledge. Cannon Lambert, a lawyer who represents the Bland family, said the video, by showing Ms. Bland with a cellphone in her hand, seriously undercut the trooper’s claim that he feared for his safety as he approached the woman’s vehicle.
“What the video shows is that Encinia had no reason to be in fear of his safety,” Mr. Lambert, who represented the family in a $1.9 million legal settlement, said in a telephone interview. “The video shows that he wasn’t in fear of his safety. You could see that it was a cellphone, he was looking right at it.”A memorial for Sandra Bland at the spot where she was arrested in Hempstead, Tex.CreditIlana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times
Mr. Encinia said during internal interviews with Department of Public Safety officials that he had been worried about his safety. “My safety was in jeopardy at more than one time,” he told department interviewers.
Mr. Encinia was indicted on a charge of perjury — the only criminal charge arising from the case — after grand jurors accused him of making a false statement in his claim that he removed Ms. Bland from her car to more safely conduct a traffic investigation. But the charge was later dismissed on a motion by prosecutors in exchange for the trooper’s promise that he would never again work in law enforcement.
The prosecuting team concluded that Mr. Encinia’s permanent ban from law enforcement was the best option because there was no certainty of obtaining a conviction on the perjury charge, one of the prosecutors said at the time.
Ms. Bland’s death in a largely rural part of southeast Texas unified African-American leaders throughout the state, leading to the enactment of the Sandra Bland Act in 2017, which requires training in de-escalation techniques for all police officers, sets up protections in custody for people with mental health and substance abuse issues and requires that independent law enforcement agencies investigate jail deaths
The new video recycled the tense roadside confrontation that millions of online viewers had already seen from the officer’s dashcam video and another one shot by a bystander. The main difference was the perspective — in the video newly made public, Ms. Bland is directly facing Mr. Encinia.
“Get out of the car,” the officer shouts as he thrusts a Taser toward her. “I will light you up. Get out. Now.”
Ms. Bland was pulled over near the campus of Prairie View A & M University in Waller County, where she had been planning to begin a new job, after the trooper said she failed to signal a turn. But the traffic stop became heated, and Mr. Encinia ordered Ms. Bland out of the car.
After the trooper told her to “get off the phone,” Ms. Bland responded: “I’m not on the phone. I have a right to record. This is my property.”
“Put your phone down,” Mr. Encinia repeated. “Put your phone down right now.”
The video was released by WFAA in partnership with the nonprofit Investigative Network. Its chief reporter, Brian Collister, said the video had been in the hands of law investigators until it was obtained by his news organization. Members of Ms. Bland’s family called on Texas officials to re-examine the case after Mr. Collister showed them the video, according to the WFAA report.
“Open up the case, period,” Ms. Bland’s sister, Shante Needham, told the station. “We know they have an extremely, extremely good cover-up system.”
Mr. Lambert, the family’s lawyer, told The Times that the release of the video raised questions about prosecutors’ decision not to press ahead with the perjury case, saying the recording undercut Mr. Encinia’s claim that he feared for his safety.
“So if the video showed that he had no basis of being in fear of his safety, and he lied about that, then you would think they would be using that video,” he said, calling prosecutors’ decision not pursue the case “extremely troubling.”
A team of five special prosecutors was assigned to the grand jury investigation. One of the team members Shawn McDonald, a Houston lawyer, said on Monday that he was not involved in the decision to drop the charges and pushed back at Mr. Lambert’s criticism of the team’s performance.
“For him to come back three years later is frankly quite ridiculous,” said Mr. McDonald, who added that he was “proud” of the investigation into the case.
Mr. McDonald said he first saw Ms. Bland’s video more than three years ago. “It was her cellphone so it was taken as evidence when we investigated the case,” he said.Video
Evidence typically was not released, he said, though a decision was made to release the trooper’s video shortly after the case began unfolding in an effort “to be transparent because of the concern everyone had with her arrest and subsequent suicide.”
Chip Lewis, a Houston lawyer who represented Mr. Encinia in the investigation, said his client was in a new career “wholly unrelated” to law enforcement, but he offered few details. “He’s working in the private sector, supporting his wife and family and living a quiet life,” Mr. Lewis said.