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The mysterious death of Sandra Bland, a Black, anti-racist police brutality activist in a Texas jail cell Monday has sparked anger and questions among family, activists, and social media after the police claimed her death was a “suicide.”
The case of Sandra Blands adds to a long list of black people who have died at the hands of the police, leading people to express their grievances on social media with the hashtag “If I Die in Police Custody,” which trended in the U.S. on Friday.
Newsletter
#Ifidieinpolicecustody Do not make calls for peace or forgiveness. Do not speculate about my mental state. I'm Black and constantly enraged.
— Charlene Carruthers (@CharleneCac)
July 17, 2015
#IfIDieinPoliceCustody Protest and throw out all notions of respectability. Have the courage of a rioter.
— Charlene Carruthers (@CharleneCac)
July 17, 2015
#IfIDieInPoliceCustody question everything. Don't believe a word they say. Demand the truth by any means necessary.
— ShordeeDooWhop (@Nettaaaaaaaa)
July 17, 2015
#IfIDieInPoliceCustody burn the city until it's pure ash
— black regina george (@fatalitiess)
July 17, 2015
Officials say her death in her jail cell was ruled a suicide by hanging, but Bland’s family has expressed deep reservations over this version of events.
RELATED: At Least 4,813 Died After Arrest by US Police Between 2003-2009
Authorities alleged Bland assaulted them, charging her with “assault on a public servant,” prior to her violent arrest. Witnesses said they saw police slamming Bland’s head on the dirt as they aggressively tossed her to the ground, using their knees to restrain her neck.
#IfIDieInPoliceCustody know I did not commit suicide. I have been in therapy for a year and a half fighting depression and I want to live.
— Terrell J. Starr (@Russian_Starr)
July 17, 2015
#IfIDieInPoliceCustody PLEASE don't let the police claim my history of depression and suicide led me to kill myself. It is a lie.
— Terrell J. Starr (@Russian_Starr)
July 17, 2015
#IfIDieInPoliceCustody understand the state murdered me without cause or "process". Don't believe police. Console my loved ones & raise hell
— Candace Williams (@TeacherC)
July 16, 2015
#IfIDieInPoliceCustody do not apologize on my behalf. Do not forgive. Do not forget. Express your rage to validate my humanity.
— Captain Africa (@See_Say_92)
July 16, 2015
The frequent media framing of black people as deserving of their death by the police was also heavily criticized by social media users.
#IfIDieInPoliceCustody Whether I resisted, was uncooperative, uneducated, or a drug user doesn't matter. I was murdered by the system.
— Gem. I.N.I (@BabylonFace)
July 16, 2015
#IfIDieInPoliceCustody tell them I sagged my pants, smoked weed, and wore hoodies. Ask them if those things warranted my execution.
— Captain Africa (@See_Say_92)
July 16, 2015
#IFIDIEINPOLICECUSTODY, I DID NOT COMMIT SUICIDE. I DID NOT BREAK MY OWN BACK. I DID NOT CHOKE MYSELF TO DEATH. /THEY/...MURDERED ME.
— apollo 30 (@ayypollo)
July 16, 2015
#IfIDieInPoliceCustody remind my children that what they know about me is real, what they will hear about me in the news is not.
— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo)
July 17, 2015
“We have come completely full circle in that Jim Crow justice at the hands of state-sponsored agents, in this case the police, is alive and well,” writer and activist Brenda Nasr told teleSUR English on Thursday. “(Her death in police custody) proves that it doesn't matter how much you have assimilated into the mainstream, if you encounter the police you are viewed as a threat, just by virtue of your blackness. Asserting our rights is a threat to the very fabric of a country built on the idea that black people are less than human.”
