Sandra Bland's Phone Video Of Her Own Arrest Surfaces

Nearly four years after Sandra Bland was pulled over by a Texas state trooper, arrested and put in a jail cell where she was found dead days later, a cellphone video that Bland took of her traffic stop has surfaced. Watch that video below.

After seeing the video Bland's family members now say they want her case reopened.

"Open up the case, period," Bland's sister Shante Needham said after seeing the video, according to TV station WFAA in Dallas. The family's former lawyer says the state never turned over the footage, which Texas officials dispute.

The newly released video shows 39 seconds of the roadside encounter that sharply escalated after state Trooper Brian Encinia pulled Bland over for failing to signal a lane change.

Bland's family believes the video was intentionally not made public, Collister says. According to Houston Public Media, the reporter first obtained the video in 2017, but it wasn't used in a story at the time. It was only after Collister realized Bland's family had not seen the recording that he decided to make it public.

Collister says the video should raise questions for state Attorney General Ken Paxton's office, which represented the Department of Public Safety in the federal wrongful-death lawsuit. Collister says he had been seeking information on whether prosecutors from that office complied with a discovery order and turned over the video during the civil suit.

Read more: Sandra Bland's Phone Video Of Her Own Arrest Surfaces, Reviving Calls For New Inquiry

Sandra Bland's Family Reaches Tentative $1.9M Settlement in Lawsuit

The family of Sandra Bland, an African-American woman who was found dead in a Texas jail cell after her arrest following a traffic stop, has reached a tentative settlement of its wrongful death lawsuit, according to the family's attorney and officials in Waller County, Texas.

Cannon Lambert, the lawyer representing Bland’s family, told ABC-owned station WLS in Chicago today that a $1.9 million settlement was reached in the family's civil suit against the Texas Department of Public Safety; Waller County, Texas; and some county employees including two former jailers.

Waller County released a statement by its attorney Larry Simmons that a potential settlement agreement has been reached but that a few details remain to be worked out and the final deal must be approved by the county commissioners. "The Waller County defendants ... emphasize they vigorously deny any fault or wrongdoing," the county's attorney said.

Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, said the most important part of the tentative settlement is the changes that Waller County would make to its jailhouse procedures.

“Obviously, it will never bring Sandy back,” Reed-Veal said in an interview with WLS. But, she added, “I feel so excited that now we have real change that’s about to happen right there in Waller County. I believe it will affect many, many other places across the country. It’s a victory for mothers.”

Lambert said that under the settlement Waller County must provide emergency nurses during all shifts at the jail; use automated electronic sensors to ensure accurate and timely checks on all occupied jail cells; and actively seek passage of state legislation that would provide greater funding for the intake and screening of county jail inmates and for other supports for local jails.

Of the $1.9 million agreed to in the settlement, Waller County will be responsible for the bulk of it, $1.8 million, Lambert told WLS. The Texas Department of Public Safety is limited by state statutes to paying no more than $100,000 under such lawsuits, he said.

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Was there a cover-up in the Sandra Bland Case?

A police officer who witnessed Sandra Bland's traffic stop said the Waller County district attorney would not let him testify before a grand jury about facts favorable to Bland, a community activist and former Waller County justice of the peace said Tuesday.

The officer - whose comments over the telephone with activist DeWayne Charleston were recorded said an official with the district attorney's office then threatened to retaliate against him if he went public with his story.

"This is what happens when you try to cross the thin blue line," Charleston said.

"He says Brian Encinia made sure he was not in ear shot of the car. He turned off his own microphone so no one would hear. And then he called his supervisor. He said, 'I have no idea what I'm going to arrest her for, but we'll figure it out when we get to the county jail,'" Charleston said Monday.

Kelley says on the recording he tried to share what he'd heard with an official at the district attorney's office.

"I wanted to testify on Sandra Bland's behalf and they told me if I said anything they're going to come after me," he said in the recording.

"He [Kelly] told me a lot of stuff," Charleston explained, "but the most important is this bit about him being on the scene and making a request to testify and being denied."

In addition, Kelly apparently told Charleston in the audio that a written statement he submitted to the Prairie View police chief never made it into the official DPS report about Bland's traffic stop for changing lanes without signaling.

Charleston said Kelley said on the recording that he offered to testify but that the Waller County District Attorney did not return his call.

Read more: Prairie View officer says DA wouldn't let him testify about Sandra Bland traffic stop

Full Speech: Mothers of the Movement Address Democratic National Convention

An emotional moment during the Democratic National Convention came when the mothers of African-Americans who were the victims of gun violence or police-involved deaths made a plea to voters to choose Hillary Clinton in November because she "isn't afraid to say black lives matter."

The Mothers of the Movement consist of Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner; Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin; Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontré Hamilton; Lucia McBath, mother of Jordan Davis; Lezley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown; Cleopatra Pendleton-Cowley, mother of Hadiya Pendleton; and Geneva Reed-Veal, mother of Sandra Bland Watch their moving speeches below.

Sandra Bland's Mom Speaks Before the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls

Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland addressed the newly formed Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls. She spoke on behalf of black women who die in prison and her belief that her daughter did not commit suicide. Watch her speech below.

Trooper who arrested Sandra Bland formally fired

A Texas state trooper indicted over the arrest of a black woman who was later found dead in a jail cell was formally fired on Tuesday. Watch the story below.

SANDRA BLAND'S FAMILY REACTS TO TROOPER INDICTMENT, FIRING

Sandra Bland's family is reacting to the news that Brian Encinia, the Texas state trooper who arrested Bland during a traffic stop has been charged for perjury and will be fired. Encinia faces up to 1 year in jail. Watch Sandra Bland's family react below:

No indictment in Sandra Bland case

A grand jury has decided not to indict anyone in the case of Sandra Bland, whose death in police custody raised questions of excessive force and the role of race.

The grand jury met for more than eight hours Monday.

"After reviewing all the evidence in the death of Sandra Bland, a Waller grand jury did not return an indictment in the death of Bland, nor were any indictments returned against any employee of the Waller County Jail," said Darrell Jordan, a special prosecutor handling the case.

The grand jury will reconvene in January to consider other indictments.

Read more; Grand jury decides against indictments in Sandra Bland case

Bernie Sanders keeps promise made in private to Sandra Bland’s mother

In an era when every moment is tweeted and politicized, Bernie Sanders elected not to capitalize on a meaningful meeting with the mother of Sandra Bland.

The chance encounter reportedly took place at East Street Café, a Thai restaurant at Union Station in Washington, D.C., five days before the first Democratic presidential debate.

The Rev. Hannah Adair Bonner, a pastor at St. John’s Church in downtown Houston, wrote in her blog about noticing the Vermont senator at another table while she was eating dinner with Geneva Reed-Veal, whose daughter became a face of the Black Lives Matter campaign following her death in police custody in July.

The pastor said she approached Sanders and asked if he would like to meet Reed-Veal and told him their group had asked if he would take a picture with them.

“He did not impose upon Ms. Geneva to ask for a picture of his own. He did not use the moment as an opportunity to promote his campaign,” she wrote. “He took no record; he made no statement. He did not try to turn it into a publicity stunt.”,/p>

Bonner, who is a Black Lives Matter activist, said she was impressed by everyone’s sincerity during the serendipitous moment.

The Democratic presidential candidate told Reed-Veal that the death of her daughter was inexcusable and promised he would continue to “say her name.” At the debate on Oct. 13 in Las Vegas, Sanders stayed true to his word when answering a question submitted by a law student through Facebook: “Do black lives matter, or do all lives matter?”

Read more: Bernie Sanders keeps promise made in private to Sandra Bland’s mother

New Black Panther Party protests at site of Sandra Bland death

Dozens of heavily-armed New Black Panthers took to the streets of Texas yesterday chanting slogans about killing police officers as they protested the death of rights activist Sandra Bland. Watch video of that protest below.

Sandra Bland speaking on Black Lives Matter

Before her death in a Texas jail under mysterious circumstances, Sandra Bland made a video discussing Black Lives Matter. Check out her thoughts on Black Lives Matter below.

Trooper in Sandra Bland traffic stop violated policy

A trooper who pulled over and later arrested a woman found dead in her jail cell was put on desk duty Friday for violating procedures, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

Sandra Bland, 28, was arrested July 10, and after spending the weekend in the Waller County jail, she was found hanged in her cell Monday. Harris County's medical examiner said the death was a suicide, but Bland's family disputes the finding.

The FBI has joined the Texas Rangers in investigating the circumstances surrounding her death. The state Public Safety Department and Waller County district attorney have requested that the FBI conduct a forensic analysis on video footage from the incident.

In arresting Bland, the trooper "violated the department's procedures regarding traffic stops and the department's courtesy policy," state public safety officials said Friday without specifying what procedures the trooper, whose name has not been released, had violated.

Read more: Texas: Trooper in traffic stop violated policy