We now have revealing releases about police misconduct.<\/p>\n
First, The Investigative Network managed to uncover additional video of Sandra Bland’s encounter with a Texas state trooper<\/a>, showing the Officer to be little more than a jack-booted thug:<\/p>\n New cellphone footage from the now infamous traffic stop of Sandra Bland shows her perspective when a Texas state trooper points a Taser and yells, \u201cI will light you up!\u201d <\/span> Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they, and that cop never spent a day in jail for his abuse..<\/p>\n In another notorious case, where Oscar Grant was murdered by Officer Johannes Mehserle, we have another cop, Anthony Pirone, making a complete lie of the phrase protect and serve<\/a>:<\/p>\n A police officer involved in the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant on an Oakland<\/a> train platform repeatedly lied to investigators and had punched the unarmed 22-year-old without justification, according to newly released records. <\/p>\n The report<\/a> on the New Year\u2019s Eve killing, which sparked national police accountability protests, was disclosed<\/a> this week following journalists\u2019 requests<\/a> under a new<\/a> California police transparency law. The previously sealed internal file, written 10 years ago, documented how the Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) officer Anthony Pirone \u201cstarted a cascade of events that ultimately led to the shooting\u201d. Pirone called Grant the N-word while detaining him, hit him in the face in an \u201cunprovoked\u201d attack, and later gave a series of false statements contradicted by videos, investigators said. <\/p>\n The death of the young father was one of the first major US police brutality cases in which cellphone footage went viral, prompting widespread outrage years before the Black Lives Matter movement. The killing was later made famous by Ryan Coogler\u2019s 2014 film Fruitvale Station<\/a>, named after the site of the death. <\/p>\n
<\/span>Bland, 28, was found dead three days later in her Waller County jail cell near Houston. Her death was ruled a suicide.<\/span>
<\/span>The new video — released as part of a WFAA exclusive in partnership with the Investigative Network — fuels the Bland family\u2019s suspicions that Texas officials withheld evidence in her controversial arrest and, later, her death.<\/span>
<\/span>Until now, the trooper\u2019s dashcam footage was believed to be the only full recording of the July 2015 traffic stop, which ended in Bland\u2019s arrest. The trooper claimed he feared for his safety during the stop.<\/span>
<\/span>The 39-second cellphone video shot by Bland remained in the hands of investigators until the Investigative Network obtained the video once the criminal investigation closed.<\/span>
<\/span>\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/span>
<\/span>Needham and other Bland family members believe the video was intentionally withheld.<\/span>
<\/span>\u201cWe also know they have an extremely, extremely good cover-up system,\u201d Needham said.<\/span>
<\/span>Texas Department of Public Safety officials declined an on-camera interview but said the video was not withheld.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n