Texas Dem calls for DOJ probe into Sandra Bland’s death

Rep. Al Green, a Texas Democrat representing the Houston area, urged the Justice Department on Wednesday to investigate the death of an African-American woman in a Texas jail after she was arrested during a traffic stop.

Sandra Bland, 28, was found dead in a Waller County jail cell. Authorities have said she hanged herself three days after she was pulled over by police for failing to signal a lane change.

Dashcam video showed a confrontation between Bland and the police officer before her arrest. But Bland’s family has questioned why she would commit suicide, noting she had just moved from Chicago to Houston to start a new job.

{mosads}Green, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that the extreme circumstances of a case that started because of a minor driving incident merited a federal probe.

“A person who is stopped for a minor traffic violation should not end up dead,” Green said on the House floor.

Bland’s death comes three months after the death of Freddie Gray, an unarmed African-American man in Baltimore who died from injuries while traveling in a police van. Both cases are part of a series of high-profile deaths over the last year of African Americans after encounters with police, including Michael Brown in Missouri, Eric Garner in New York and Walter Scott in South Carolina.

“This is what the Justice Department is for. To look into these questionable circumstance of which too many have occurred as of late, and quite frankly, over a substantial period of time in our country,” Green added. 

“What happened in this case is highly questionable and highly suspect.”

Waller County authorities have asked the FBI to investigate Bland’s death. Her family has requested an independent autopsy.

Green joins other Houston-area officials calling for a Justice Department probe, including Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).