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New Video Of Sandra Bland’s Traffic Stop Released

(KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images)

William Davis Contributor
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New video footage of the 2015 traffic stop that led to the arrest of civil rights activist Sandra Bland in Prairie View, Texas, was unearthed Tuesday.

Bland was found dead in her jail cell three days after the incident, and the controversy surrounding her death helped ignite the “Black Lives Matter” movement and infuriated civil rights groups.

Cell phone footage of the traffic stop that led to her arrest was discovered by investigators in 2015 but was not made public until it was obtained by ABC affiliate WFAA in Dallas late Monday night. (RELATED: As Conspiracy Theories Swirl, Sandra Bland’s Co-Inmate Says She Likely Committed Suicide)

WATCH:

The video shows Bland being accosted by state trooper Brian Encinia, who points a taser in her face during the encounter. (RELATED: Police Brutality In America: These Are Not Isolated Incidents)

“Get out of the car!” Encinia screams during the encounter. “I will light you up. Get out. Now.”

Encinia later claimed that he was afraid for his safety, but the video of the encounter does not suggest that Bland represented a threat. Bland reportedly suffered from several mental health issues, including depression and PTSD.

She can also be seen warning Encinia at the traffic stop that she suffered from epilepsy.

Encinia was fired and later charged with perjury after video contradicted his description of the encounter, although the charge did not stick.

Brand’s family settled a wrongful death suit against Waller County and the Texas Department of Public Safety in 2016 for $1.9 million.

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