Summary

NEWSER BY THE FAMILY OF SANDRA BLAND AND THEIR ATTORNEY / From the Bland family's lawyer Cannon Lambert: "The family will hold a press conference at 2:30pm today at DuPage AME Church to discuss the dash cam . The church is located at 4300 YACKLEY AVE LISLE, IL. <x-apple-data-detectors://1>" / Rev. Theresa Dear, Assoc. Minister DuPage AME Church, on exec. committee of NAACP Rev. Lana Miller, Staff at DuPage AME Church, Exec. Pastor at DuPage AME Church Rev. Dr. James Miller, Senior Pastor DuPage AME Church Shante Needham, Sandra Bland's Sister Cannon Lambert Sr., Family Attorney Sharon Cooper, Sandra's Older Sister Geneva Reed-Veal, Sandra's Mother Rev. Morgan Dixon, Church Administrator at DuPage AME Church Cannon Lambert Sr., Family Attorney 15:51:29 Obviously we are here because of the circumstances surrounding Sandra Bland. Fortunately we have successfully been able to get our sister and our daughter and bring her home. Today and going forward, the family is preparing for the home-going celebration that Sandy Bland will have here at this church. And as a consequence of that home-going, and until that homegoing occurs, her mother has elected to forgo any comment to the media at this time. So I will start off by asking that you understand and appreciate she will not be taking any questions of any kind at this particular point. 15:52:21 I know there's a lot of questions surrounding the dash-cam. We wanted to take this opportunity to respond to the dash cam and what is displayed in it. If you look at the dash cam, I think that you see right out of the gate, right out of the gate, you see from that dash-cam that this could have easily been avoided. There was very little reason that can be gleaned from the dash-cam why Sandy had to be asked to put her cigarette out, why Sandy had to be asked to get out of her car, why Sandy had to be subject to the officer pointing a taser at her, why Sandy had to be thrown to the ground and hurt. 15:53:17 There are even more question that is have come out of Texas than we had when he went down there. Now there's the dash cam and we don't know the circumstances surrounding the footage on the dash cam. We are not in a position to say it's been tampered with. We are not in a position to say it has not. We simply don't know. I'm not a forensic media examiner, but now I know that we're going to have to get one. The long and short of it is that we want everything that happened from the time that the police interfaced with Sandy up until the time that she was found to have died and beyond to come to light. Right now sandy is speaking, and this family feels that Sandy is speaking. 15:54:21 She's speaking, saying find the truth. Find the answers we want the answers and Sandy demands them. And we will find them. The reality of it is that when this family had to see that dash cam, the emotion that it drew from them was extraordinary... and we want to give you an opportunity to talk to their spokesperson and ask them some questions about that. With that, should there be any questions of me, you can certainly can ask me. Yes? 15:55:00 Reporter: A couple things have come to light on the video -- on the dash cam she does say she suffers from epilepsy. In another video that she made, she said she suffered from depression and PTSD. Can you shed any light on that? And was she taking medication? And if so, what was she taking for that? 15:55:18 >> I can tell you we take issue with the notion she was suffering from depression. She was never clinically diagnosed, as this family understands. Everybody has hills and valleys, and the bottom line is that there's no medication we're aware of she was taking to address any sort of epilepsy or depression. 15:55:41 Reporter: You don't -- it's not even clear she had epilepsy either? >> The long and short of it is is that, with regard to her medical history, none of that has anything to do with why that stop took place. Reporter: No, no, the jail, what happened -- 15:55:56 >> What I would say is despite the effort to try to divert the energy and attention from what really happened, we will not fall subject to it. This happened because an officer was overzealous. This happened because an officer decided that he wished to overstep his authority. That's where our focus is going to remain for the current time. Reporter: But it raises questions whether or not she committed suicide. 15:56:24 >> What raises questions is why it is that 28-year-old woman who had received two job offers would take her own life. What it does is that it raises questions. It raises questions why a 28-year-old woman would call her mother in excitement about those two jobs, and then take her life... Sandy was a social activist. Social activists don't take their own life, particularly in jail. It just doesn't make sense. 15:56:57 Reporter: There's a newspaper report she told jailers she had tried to commit suicide in the past. Is that true? >> We can't wait to see what's in all the reports they have. I know you don't have them all and neither do they. This investigation is ongoing, and we look forward to it being completed. We don't know what they are alleging that she told them. I know what the newspaper article said. Until I see the reports, I won't be in a position where I can respond to that question. 15:57:25 Reporter: Can you talk a bit about being an activist. We have seen the videos she posted online. What home court things did she do as an activists? Involved in protests? >> Sandy daily made posts, inspirational posts, efforts to try to bring other people up. She put her arms around people. That's why there's been such a groundswell of support for her. 15:57:52 Reporter: Were there other components to the activism we should know about? Protesting, things like that? >> If you mean speaking up for the interests of the many, caring for kids and the generation behind her, yeah, she was an activist. 15:58:09 Reporter: Sir, do you think sandy did anything wrong during that traffic stop? Some people are asking why didn't she just cooperate? >> Here's the problem. Citizens have rights. When you lay down your rights voluntary, you forgo the enjoyment of those rights.... And I don't know that you have an obligation to give away your rights. This country was founded on the citizens in it enjoying their rights. That's what Sandy was doing. 15:58:40 Reporter: But a follow-up. If she had just gotten out of the car and not -- not in any way negative towards the police officers, whether he deserved it or not, if she had just, you know stepped out of the car and cooperated, could this all have been avoided? Sharon Cooper, Sandra's Older Sister >> Could I answer that question, please? >> I just would like to address the question. In looking at the video, I have seen the video in its entirety. Sandy was pulled over for failure to indicate a proper lane change, and in looking at that, as her sister, I simply feel like the officer was picking on her. Point-blank, period. I personally think that it's petty. >> Reporter: Do you believe he pulled her over because she was black? 15:59:35 >> I think he pulled her over because she was an out-of-state resident. That's what I think. >> Ms. Cooper, when you see your sister crying out in anger. 15:59:46 >> I'm infuriated and everything else should be infuriated as well. From the petty charge to the officer asking her, let's be clear, he asked her, can you put your cigarette out for me, please? That's not an instruction, that's not a summons, that's an ask. He asked her, and she simply responded no, I don't have to put out my cigarette. I'm in my own car/ Reporter: Was there any court date? 16:00:15 >> She did make an appearance in court and had been given bond at the time, which we were working on expeditiously to give her. It has not been shared with us that she had a court date. Reporter: What level of confidence do you have in the investigation that is ongoing right now with Texas authorities as well as -- 16:00:31 >> They've been cooperative to date. We hope they will continue to do so. Reporter: Have you had your -- the autopsy -- do you folks -- has that been done? 16:00:43 >> Quite frankly I'm disgusted we're even having a discussion about an autopsy. Because she was pulled over for something so insignificant, and because of an officer who felt like maybe his ego was bruised and got in the way, not once did he ever say he felt threatened. But when you tell me you're going to light me up, I feel extremely threatened and concerned, and I'm not going to get out of my car. Reporter: What does it mean for your family to have her back now over the weekend and have gone to bring her home. How has that been for all of you. Can you tell me -- 16:01:21 >> I will be frank with you, that is a brief moment of gratification. It's brief, because we know in the coming days, we are going to have to lay our awesome, beloved daughter, sister, friend, aunt to rest. That's very difficult. It's the longest flight I've ever had. I'm sure my mother feels the same way, and my sisters do as well. Reporter: The outpouring from the community about this, and what that has meant for your family and also what you want -- 16:01:54 >> Absolutely. I would be happy to. It has been awe-inspiring, and I have kind of stepped back and looked at her and said, what am I doing with my life? Because let's be real here. She has been in the forefront of everybody's mind for the last seven days, but that peaked within 72 hours. From the love and support of people who knew her, who personally knew her in this community and this church, abroad where she went to school, people love her and genuinely care about you. I don't know if you understand the magnitude that was going on with Sandra bland this weekend. On Saturday the rock at her old high school was painted, rest in peace sandy, we love you so much, tons of people showed up to support her. That following day, there was a prayer vigil in Houston, Texas at hope A.M.E. Church, where the community came out in droves to support her and us in solidarity. Dignitaries from the state of Texas were there, which I can clearly tell you is a display on our end. 16:02:57 They feel the very same way, that they have questions that something is wrong. Following that, we just had a memorial service for her yesterday evening, where I can tell you there were well over 200 people there, coupled with our prayer walk this week. She has been in the minds and thoughts of everybody, and I cannot tell you how appreciative we are, how much we have truly -- it's angered us as a family much more than you will ever know. You want to talk about the power of social media, and using social media for good? So my ask, my family's ask, close friends of sandy's ask, please keep tweeting. Keep tweeting, keep facebooking, keep 16:03:41 instagraming, keep snap chatting, keep utilizing the hashtag "justice for Sandy". And my all-time favorite keep #sayhername. Because the minute you forget her name, you forget her character, and that she was a person. So that is my humble ask on behalf of me and my family. [ Inaudible ] >> Reporter: -- There's no accusation of bias, in light of that and the grand jury investigation, how hopeful are you that you're really going to find out the truth of what happened after the fact? 16:04:29 >> My hope is based off of execution and not -- not promises. We just want to make sure that the things that are being communicated to us are honored. So we want to make sure there is ongoing collaboration, effort and transparency in terms of finding out what happened to Sandra bland. Reporter: Have authorities said anything to the family about this officer's -- they commented about the way this officer behaved during that traffic stop? 16:05:02 >> They have commented about as much as you all have read, which is simply that it was inappropriate... and they put him on administrative leave. I understand he's on leave at this time. >> Did they ever detail what he did wrong with the family in conversations? >> No. Reporter: Would you give a timeline again about -- >> And -- altered now? 16:05:24 >> That's not our specialty. We certainly seek out an expert who can clarify that for us, so we won't respond to that at this time. Reporter: Are you on a holding pattern until the investigation is complete? The home-going service, walk us through the timeline of what you beleive feel like you can do next and what that process will look like. Cannon Lambert Sr., Family Attorney 16:05:51 >> Legally -- I'm sorry. Legally we are in the process of kind of scouring the area to try and find individuals that might have information regarding how the incident happened or might have information regarding what happened in the jail. In addition to that, we're also continuing to ask for the documentation we have not yet been given. Understand that the baseline in many respects will start -- or will be what's in the reports. We want to know is it what happened as it relates to when she was transferred to the jail by the arresting officer. We want to know is what the people that booked her were told by the officer. We need to understand what happened to her once she was put in a jail cell and whether or not she was moved, and with what frequency she was moved. There are a whole host of things that when we look at the reports we get from the sheriff, the reports we get from the Texas rangers, the reports we get from the department of public safety, and for that matter if the FBI has reports, what all of those reports say. Reporter: Just to be clear on the reports that she told the jailers there that she had tried to take her own life, had there been any evidence or any instances -- did she ever try to take her life? 16:07:22 >> This family has no evidence that that is the case. None. We know for a certainty when she went into the jail, she was ecstatic. She had just gotten to Texas the day before, and she was about to start a job. She had gone grocery shopping and filled her refrigerator. She had left messages with her loved ones, and that just does not jibe with someone who would take her own life. Reporter: Are you preparing a wrongful death lawsuit? 16:07:55 >> We are looking to have this investigation be completed in a thorough, complete and full-bodied way. If a lawsuit comes out of that, so be it. Reporter: -- Her cell phone -- >> That's part of the investigation and we're looking for that. >> Thank you, everyone.

Source ABCNEWS VideoSource
Direct Link: View details on ABCNEWS VideoSource site
Title: BLAND FAMILY NEWSER / ABC / HD
Date: 07/22/2015
Library: ABC
Tape Number: NYU172993
Content: NEWSER BY THE FAMILY OF SANDRA BLAND AND THEIR ATTORNEY / From the Bland family's lawyer Cannon Lambert: "The family will hold a press conference at 2:30pm today at DuPage AME Church to discuss the dash cam . The church is located at 4300 YACKLEY AVE LISLE, IL. " / Rev. Theresa Dear, Assoc. Minister DuPage AME Church, on exec. committee of NAACP Rev. Lana Miller, Staff at DuPage AME Church, Exec. Pastor at DuPage AME Church Rev. Dr. James Miller, Senior Pastor DuPage AME Church Shante Needham, Sandra Bland's Sister Cannon Lambert Sr., Family Attorney Sharon Cooper, Sandra's Older Sister Geneva Reed-Veal, Sandra's Mother Rev. Morgan Dixon, Church Administrator at DuPage AME Church Cannon Lambert Sr., Family Attorney 15:51:29 Obviously we are here because of the circumstances surrounding Sandra Bland. Fortunately we have successfully been able to get our sister and our daughter and bring her home. Today and going forward, the family is preparing for the home-going celebration that Sandy Bland will have here at this church. And as a consequence of that home-going, and until that homegoing occurs, her mother has elected to forgo any comment to the media at this time. So I will start off by asking that you understand and appreciate she will not be taking any questions of any kind at this particular point. 15:52:21 I know there's a lot of questions surrounding the dash-cam. We wanted to take this opportunity to respond to the dash cam and what is displayed in it. If you look at the dash cam, I think that you see right out of the gate, right out of the gate, you see from that dash-cam that this could have easily been avoided. There was very little reason that can be gleaned from the dash-cam why Sandy had to be asked to put her cigarette out, why Sandy had to be asked to get out of her car, why Sandy had to be subject to the officer pointing a taser at her, why Sandy had to be thrown to the ground and hurt. 15:53:17 There are even more question that is have come out of Texas than we had when he went down there. Now there's the dash cam and we don't know the circumstances surrounding the footage on the dash cam. We are not in a position to say it's been tampered with. We are not in a position to say it has not. We simply don't know. I'm not a forensic media examiner, but now I know that we're going to have to get one. The long and short of it is that we want everything that happened from the time that the police interfaced with Sandy up until the time that she was found to have died and beyond to come to light. Right now sandy is speaking, and this family feels that Sandy is speaking. 15:54:21 She's speaking, saying find the truth. Find the answers we want the answers and Sandy demands them. And we will find them. The reality of it is that when this family had to see that dash cam, the emotion that it drew from them was extraordinary... and we want to give you an opportunity to talk to their spokesperson and ask them some questions about that. With that, should there be any questions of me, you can certainly can ask me. Yes? 15:55:00 Reporter: A couple things have come to light on the video -- on the dash cam she does say she suffers from epilepsy. In another video that she made, she said she suffered from depression and PTSD. Can you shed any light on that? And was she taking medication? And if so, what was she taking for that? 15:55:18 >> I can tell you we take issue with the notion she was suffering from depression. She was never clinically diagnosed, as this family understands. Everybody has hills and valleys, and the bottom line is that there's no medication we're aware of she was taking to address any sort of epilepsy or depression. 15:55:41 Reporter: You don't -- it's not even clear she had epilepsy either? >> The long and short of it is is that, with regard to her medical history, none of that has anything to do with why that stop took place. Reporter: No, no, the jail, what happened -- 15:55:56 >> What I would say is despite the effort to try to divert the energy and attention from what really happened, we will not fall subject to it. This happened because an officer was overzealous. This happened because an officer decided that he wished to overstep his authority. That's where our focus is going to remain for the current time. Reporter: But it raises questions whether or not she committed suicide. 15:56:24 >> What raises questions is why it is that 28-year-old woman who had received two job offers would take her own life. What it does is that it raises questions. It raises questions why a 28-year-old woman would call her mother in excitement about those two jobs, and then take her life... Sandy was a social activist. Social activists don't take their own life, particularly in jail. It just doesn't make sense. 15:56:57 Reporter: There's a newspaper report she told jailers she had tried to commit suicide in the past. Is that true? >> We can't wait to see what's in all the reports they have. I know you don't have them all and neither do they. This investigation is ongoing, and we look forward to it being completed. We don't know what they are alleging that she told them. I know what the newspaper article said. Until I see the reports, I won't be in a position where I can respond to that question. 15:57:25 Reporter: Can you talk a bit about being an activist. We have seen the videos she posted online. What home court things did she do as an activists? Involved in protests? >> Sandy daily made posts, inspirational posts, efforts to try to bring other people up. She put her arms around people. That's why there's been such a groundswell of support for her. 15:57:52 Reporter: Were there other components to the activism we should know about? Protesting, things like that? >> If you mean speaking up for the interests of the many, caring for kids and the generation behind her, yeah, she was an activist. 15:58:09 Reporter: Sir, do you think sandy did anything wrong during that traffic stop? Some people are asking why didn't she just cooperate? >> Here's the problem. Citizens have rights. When you lay down your rights voluntary, you forgo the enjoyment of those rights.... And I don't know that you have an obligation to give away your rights. This country was founded on the citizens in it enjoying their rights. That's what Sandy was doing. 15:58:40 Reporter: But a follow-up. If she had just gotten out of the car and not -- not in any way negative towards the police officers, whether he deserved it or not, if she had just, you know stepped out of the car and cooperated, could this all have been avoided? Sharon Cooper, Sandra's Older Sister >> Could I answer that question, please? >> I just would like to address the question. In looking at the video, I have seen the video in its entirety. Sandy was pulled over for failure to indicate a proper lane change, and in looking at that, as her sister, I simply feel like the officer was picking on her. Point-blank, period. I personally think that it's petty. >> Reporter: Do you believe he pulled her over because she was black? 15:59:35 >> I think he pulled her over because she was an out-of-state resident. That's what I think. >> Ms. Cooper, when you see your sister crying out in anger. 15:59:46 >> I'm infuriated and everything else should be infuriated as well. From the petty charge to the officer asking her, let's be clear, he asked her, can you put your cigarette out for me, please? That's not an instruction, that's not a summons, that's an ask. He asked her, and she simply responded no, I don't have to put out my cigarette. I'm in my own car/ Reporter: Was there any court date? 16:00:15 >> She did make an appearance in court and had been given bond at the time, which we were working on expeditiously to give her. It has not been shared with us that she had a court date. Reporter: What level of confidence do you have in the investigation that is ongoing right now with Texas authorities as well as -- 16:00:31 >> They've been cooperative to date. We hope they will continue to do so. Reporter: Have you had your -- the autopsy -- do you folks -- has that been done? 16:00:43 >> Quite frankly I'm disgusted we're even having a discussion about an autopsy. Because she was pulled over for something so insignificant, and because of an officer who felt like maybe his ego was bruised and got in the way, not once did he ever say he felt threatened. But when you tell me you're going to light me up, I feel extremely threatened and concerned, and I'm not going to get out of my car. Reporter: What does it mean for your family to have her back now over the weekend and have gone to bring her home. How has that been for all of you. Can you tell me -- 16:01:21 >> I will be frank with you, that is a brief moment of gratification. It's brief, because we know in the coming days, we are going to have to lay our awesome, beloved daughter, sister, friend, aunt to rest. That's very difficult. It's the longest flight I've ever had. I'm sure my mother feels the same way, and my sisters do as well. Reporter: The outpouring from the community about this, and what that has meant for your family and also what you want -- 16:01:54 >> Absolutely. I would be happy to. It has been awe-inspiring, and I have kind of stepped back and looked at her and said, what am I doing with my life? Because let's be real here. She has been in the forefront of everybody's mind for the last seven days, but that peaked within 72 hours. From the love and support of people who knew her, who personally knew her in this community and this church, abroad where she went to school, people love her and genuinely care about you. I don't know if you understand the magnitude that was going on with Sandra bland this weekend. On Saturday the rock at her old high school was painted, rest in peace sandy, we love you so much, tons of people showed up to support her. That following day, there was a prayer vigil in Houston, Texas at hope A.M.E. Church, where the community came out in droves to support her and us in solidarity. Dignitaries from the state of Texas were there, which I can clearly tell you is a display on our end. 16:02:57 They feel the very same way, that they have questions that something is wrong. Following that, we just had a memorial service for her yesterday evening, where I can tell you there were well over 200 people there, coupled with our prayer walk this week. She has been in the minds and thoughts of everybody, and I cannot tell you how appreciative we are, how much we have truly -- it's angered us as a family much more than you will ever know. You want to talk about the power of social media, and using social media for good? So my ask, my family's ask, close friends of sandy's ask, please keep tweeting. Keep tweeting, keep facebooking, keep 16:03:41 instagraming, keep snap chatting, keep utilizing the hashtag "justice for Sandy". And my all-time favorite keep #sayhername. Because the minute you forget her name, you forget her character, and that she was a person. So that is my humble ask on behalf of me and my family. [ Inaudible ] >> Reporter: -- There's no accusation of bias, in light of that and the grand jury investigation, how hopeful are you that you're really going to find out the truth of what happened after the fact? 16:04:29 >> My hope is based off of execution and not -- not promises. We just want to make sure that the things that are being communicated to us are honored. So we want to make sure there is ongoing collaboration, effort and transparency in terms of finding out what happened to Sandra bland. Reporter: Have authorities said anything to the family about this officer's -- they commented about the way this officer behaved during that traffic stop? 16:05:02 >> They have commented about as much as you all have read, which is simply that it was inappropriate... and they put him on administrative leave. I understand he's on leave at this time. >> Did they ever detail what he did wrong with the family in conversations? >> No. Reporter: Would you give a timeline again about -- >> And -- altered now? 16:05:24 >> That's not our specialty. We certainly seek out an expert who can clarify that for us, so we won't respond to that at this time. Reporter: Are you on a holding pattern until the investigation is complete? The home-going service, walk us through the timeline of what you beleive feel like you can do next and what that process will look like. Cannon Lambert Sr., Family Attorney 16:05:51 >> Legally -- I'm sorry. Legally we are in the process of kind of scouring the area to try and find individuals that might have information regarding how the incident happened or might have information regarding what happened in the jail. In addition to that, we're also continuing to ask for the documentation we have not yet been given. Understand that the baseline in many respects will start -- or will be what's in the reports. We want to know is it what happened as it relates to when she was transferred to the jail by the arresting officer. We want to know is what the people that booked her were told by the officer. We need to understand what happened to her once she was put in a jail cell and whether or not she was moved, and with what frequency she was moved. There are a whole host of things that when we look at the reports we get from the sheriff, the reports we get from the Texas rangers, the reports we get from the department of public safety, and for that matter if the FBI has reports, what all of those reports say. Reporter: Just to be clear on the reports that she told the jailers there that she had tried to take her own life, had there been any evidence or any instances -- did she ever try to take her life? 16:07:22 >> This family has no evidence that that is the case. None. We know for a certainty when she went into the jail, she was ecstatic. She had just gotten to Texas the day before, and she was about to start a job. She had gone grocery shopping and filled her refrigerator. She had left messages with her loved ones, and that just does not jibe with someone who would take her own life. Reporter: Are you preparing a wrongful death lawsuit? 16:07:55 >> We are looking to have this investigation be completed in a thorough, complete and full-bodied way. If a lawsuit comes out of that, so be it. Reporter: -- Her cell phone -- >> That's part of the investigation and we're looking for that. >> Thank you, everyone.
Media Type: Archived Unity File
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