Sandra Bland death: Texas DPS rejects 'police dashcam arrest footage edited' claims

The Texas state government has denied allegations the police dashcam footage showing the arrest of Sandra Bland was edited before being released to the public.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS) released the 52-minute footage of Bland being arrested amid questions surrounding her death.

Bland died in police custody three days after her 10 July arrest following an argument with officer Brian Encinia over a traffic violation dispute. A coroner ruled the 28-year-old died after she hanged herself – a decision not agreed with by her family who have demanded an independent autopsy.

Following the release of the footage, many began to question the legitimacy of the footage, including Ava DuVernay, director the Oscar-winning film Selma.

One of those who disputed the footage was journalist and documentary maker Ben Norton, who uploaded a series of snippets of the video released by the authorities which suggest the footage was edited prior to release.

In one instance at the 25:01 mark, a man can be seen walking towards the camera on the right hand and disappearing off the screen before the video appears to skip and repeat it again. During these few seconds, the audio of Encinia describing what happened does not skip or repeat itself.

Another part of the video between 33:02-33:12 also appears to show a white car drive into shot before the footage jumps and repeats the same car driving again. The audio once continues uninterrupted during these apparent repeats of footage.

TDPS has said the footage was not edited and will ask the FBI to examine the video to "ensure the integrity".

A spokesperson told the Texas Tribune: "The entire video was uploaded to include the audio and the video of the conversation the trooper had by telephone with his sergeant, which occurred after the arrest.

"Some of the video that occurred during this conversation was affected by the upload and is being addressed. We are working to repost the dashcam video."

The video released to the public shows Encinia pulling Bland over on Prairie View, near Houston, on 10 July, for failing to signal a lane change.

The pair begin arguing about why the officer had stopped Bland. As the confrontation gets more heated, Encinia asks Bland to put out a cigarette she is smoking.

She replies: "I'm in my car, why do I have to put out my cigarette?" To which Encinia tells her: "Well, you can step on out now."

As the pair continue to argue, the officer appears to reach inside the vehicle and threaten to pull her out of the vehicle.

"I'm going to yank you out of here," he says. "I'm going to drag you out of here." The officer then appears to aim a stun gun at Bland and threatens to "light her up".

The pair eventually walk off screen and Bland appearing to be placed in handcuffs. As the argument continues, Bland can be heard screaming: "You're about to break my wrist, stop!.. You're a real man now, you just slammed me, knocked my head into the ground, I got epilepsy, you m**********r."

The Waller County District Attorney's office released Bland's arrest warrant. Encinia writes: "I had Bland exit the vehicle to further conduct a safe traffic investigation. Bland became combative and uncooperative. Numerous commands were given to Bland ordering her to exit the vehicle. Bland was removed from the car but became more combative. Bland was placed in handcuffs for officer safety.

"Bland began swinging her elbows at me and then kicked my right shin. I had a pain in my right leg and suffered small cuts on my right hand. Force was then used to subdue Bland to the ground to which Bland continued to fight back. The 28-year-old was placed under arrest for assault on public servant."

Encinia has been assigned administrative duties in the wake of the incident.

Following her arrest, Bland spent three days in jail before being found dead with a plastic bag around her head.

Local authorities said they are investigating whether the incident was a homicide — a routine procedure for all suspicious deaths.