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Writer's pictureKaren Brittingham-Edmond

Remembering Sista Sandra Bland The Incident That Woke Up Americans Far And Near In 2015

July 13, 2023


A United States citizen, Sandra Annette Bland, was born on February 7, 1987. Sandra was one of five sisters from Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. She attended Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, Illinois, then Prairie View A&M University outside Hempstead in Waller County, Texas, where she was a Sigma Gamma Rho sorority member. She graduated in 2009 with a degree in agriculture. At Prairie View, Miss Bland was recruited as a summer counselor for three years, played in the marching band, and volunteered for a senior citizens advocacy group. Everyone who knew Sandra loved her. Especially her mother, Geneva Reed-Veal. Who was not allowed to collect her daughter's last belongings from the Waller County Jail, where she died, until two years after Sandra Bland's murder at the very young age of 28 years old.

Sandra center and above, standing with her beautiful sisters.


Sandra Bland had just driven in from Illinois to start a new job in Texas when a state trooper pulled her over, claiming that she failed to signal a lane change per his opinion. Encina would claim in court that Sandra's presence frightened him and that he feared for his life. Evidence would shortly reveal who the predator was (Encina.) Compared to who was a civilized, intelligent person (Sandra Bland) at the scene of the July 10, 2015 incident. As with most liars and self-hating people of color, Encina made a big deal out of nothing. All because Bland, an educated Black woman, complied with the officer and provided him the necessary information Encina requested while smoking a cigarette in her car and minding her own business.


Above Waller County TX State Trooper Brian Encina center with a blue tie with what forensic psychologists call the "smile-leniency effect" To learn more, click the link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/machiavellians-gulling-the-rubes/202304/when-liars-smile-the-telltale-tic-of-duping-delight

As Encina's unprofessional angry exchange grew towards Bland, Encina pulled out a stun gun that Bland managed to record per her 39-second cellphone video. Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia worked into a furious rage over Bland's unextinguished cigarette, pointed a Taser, and began yelling at Bland as if she was an animal. Per Sandra's video that she captured of the Hispanic State Trooper in his rage threatening Bland that he planned to "light her up," revealed that Encina was nothing more than a predator. And a poor excuse for a man. Encina's behavior startled Bland, as any intelligent person could see.


Per Sandra's response from the state trooper cam and her cell phone footage, she could see something was very wrong with Encina and his hateful behavior towards her as a Black woman. (On a side note, Brian Encina had a track record of primarily targeting African American drivers over petty offenses.)

Video of Brian Encina's bad and dangerous behavior toward Miss. Sandra Bland where in police cam footage, Brian Encina said: "he would kill her."


Bland's video would not be shared publically until four years later. Social media platforms provided the fodder that the family of Sandra Bland needed to re-open the case in 2019 against Texas State Trooper Encina. Footage of both police cam and Sandra's cell phone revealed what happened on July 10, 2015. And how nasty, racist, and unprofessional Brian Encina indeed was. American citizens were outraged.

Pictured above is Bland family attorney Cannon Lambert Esq. Lambert's representation brought forth results that all parties have agreed to terms including a $1.9 million payout to the family — $1.8 million from Waller County and $100,000 from DPS — and changes in jailing and law enforcement practices that could have statewide implications


The 28-year-old African-American, Sandra Bland from the Chicago area, was taken into custody in southeast Texas by Encina after the contentious 2015 traffic stop that Encina's misconduct acted out. Bland was found hanging in a jail cell three days later in what was officially ruled a suicide. That no American citizen believes to this day. The case, which drew international attention, intensified outrage over Hispanic state troopers' treatment of Black citizens. This historical moment was considered a turning point in the Black Lives Matter movement. May Sandra Bland's family receive the full retribution owed to them regarding the loss of life experienced by their beautiful family member Miss. Sandra Bland who died suspiciously at the Waller County Jail in Texas after Brian Encina threatened to kill her on July 10, 2015.


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