Texas looks into odd apparent edits in Sandra Bland arrest dash-cam video

There is something strange about that Sandra Bland arrest video

(Image credit: Texas DPS/YouTube)

published 22 July 2015

The dashboard-camera video that the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) released late Tuesday of Sandra Bland's July 10 arrest is 52 minutes long. Still it didn't take long before a writer and documentary maker named Ben Norton noticed some oddities in the video:

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Even before the mysterious apparent edits, the video was drawing scrutiny because of the questions it raised about why Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia arrested Bland, who was black. In the video, Encina demands that Bland get out of her car, and when Bland asked why she was being arrested, he pulled out his Taser and yelled: "Get out of the car! I will light you up!" Bland, 28 and starting a new job, was found dead in her jail cell on July 13. The state coroner has ruled it a suicide.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.