Ex-cop says Sandra Bland died because she was ‘arrogant from the beginning’

[RandySF]

CNN contributor and former NYPD detective Harry Houck argued on Tuesday that a Texas woman would not have died in police custody if she had not been “arrogant from the very beginning.”

Disturbing dashcam video released on Tuesday shows a Texas trooper pulling Sandra Bland over for failure to signal, but the incident quickly escalates when she refuses to put out a lit cigarette, prompting the officer to remove her from the vehicle. The 28-year-old black woman was found dead in a county jail cell three days later under suspicious circumstances.

“An officer does have the choice to bring anyone out of the vehicle when he stops them for his own safety,” Houck told CNN’s Don Lemon on Tuesday. “The whole thing here is that she was very arrogant from the beginning, very dismissive of the officer, alright?”

CNN political contributor Marc Lamont Hill pointed out that Bland did not have a legal responsibility to “kiss the officer’s butt.”


http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/cnn-panel-explodes-after-ex-cop-says-sandra-bland-died-because-she-was-arrogant-from-the-beginning/

[villager]

1. "How dare she seem more arrogant than me or my fellow policemen!"

n/t

[gollygee]

2. So we have the death penalty for arrogance?

Or just when African Americans are "arrogant?"

[Violet_Crumble]

38. It's ridiculous. She was polite and calm at the start...

It's in the news over here, and what I saw was her answering his question politely, him getting stroppy because he didn't like her answer, and him escalating it out of control. I don't blame her at all for losing it when she did. She would have been scared, and it's cops who are the ones who are supposed to be trained in de-escalating situations, not yr average citizen. He went out of his way to escalate things and turn them physical, and it was appalling to watch. And WTF? Not only was she arrested, but she spent three days in jail before her very suspicious death. That's just so fucked up...

It's very clear that there needs to be a massive overhaul of the police in the US. I've never understood that thing I've seen on episodes of Cops where people bow and scrape to cops and call them 'sir' and stuff. That expectation from cops that they deserve to be sucked up to needs to stop, along with the racism and their habit of arresting people and throwing them in jail for the most minor things. Cops are supposed to be protecting society from the bad guys, not killing innocent people like Sandra Bland.

[spanone]

3. uh, no mr houck, that's not alright.

[Juicy_Bellows]

4. If arrogance is the only reason why havent the cops killed Trump? Nt.

[951-Riverside]

5. Yeah dare she get all uppity with her master

FTP

[still_one]

6. Glad I don't watch CNN anymore

[Cheese Sandwich]

7. He should be fired from that CNN gig.

I'm serious that's messed up.

That attitude is a perfect example what's wrong.

[malaise]

8. We're lucky he didn't say uppity

Fugg him - she knew her rights

[elias49]

15. She won't get 'hung up'. She's dead. nt

[malaise]

20. There was no justification for any of that crap

He's responsible for her murder

[niyad]

21. what flavour pizza would you like?

[daleanime]

27. My, how insightful.....

please tell us more.


(Quick, some one get the net.)

[CANDO]

30. Yeah, your time here is as good as over

Alluding to lynching....seriously? Bye bye

[Solly Mack]

36. I'm sure he was thinking it.

[malaise]

42. +1,000

[7wo7rees]

9. Say What??

Watched the video, listened to the audio. I have lived most of my life in Texas. I am shocked, dismayed, horrified.
I am at a loss for words!
All over not using a turn signal in the middle of the afternoon in a very slow Texas town!
That officer needs to be fired!!!

[sendero]

19. The officer..

..... needs to be prosecuted for unlawful arrest.

[niyad]

24. not to mention assault, and multiple other charges.

[vanlassie]

10. This guy can predict the future, therefore justifies police action.

Houck interrupted: “Even if he de-escalated that whole situation, she would have kept coming at that officer the way she did.”

..."Coming at him?" From inside her car?

[TDale313]

14. He doesn't mean physically, he means verbally.

The commentator is saying she died cause she mouthed off, and he's ok with that. It's sickening.

[GoneFishin]

12. My French is rusty but here goes : Fuck him and fuck CNN for giving him 1 second of air time.

I can't stomach listening to the lame shit that comes out of the mouths of the asshole moron talking heads on MSM TV.

[7wo7rees]

18. AMEN! And I'll skip with the French!!

Flat out CRIMINAL!!!!

[daleanime]

28. Amen.....

[BeyondGeography]

13. Fucking bullshit

[Nevernose]

16. It's true: cops can pull you out for their safety

Even leave you handcuffed on the ground for up to an hour.

But that's not what happened here and not what the video shows. If he'd been concerned for his own safety, he'd have ordered her out of the car much earlier. Instead, he was angry because he felt disrespected.

Besides the video clearly demonstrating that to any reasonable person (not that knee jerk cop defenders are ever reasonable), his own fucking department said the cop was in the wrong.

[CANDO]

34. He wasn't concerned for his safety...

considering he leans into a person's vehicle, placing himself in a very precarious position. I've stated in another thread that the cop had valid reason for the stop due to failure to use turn signal (if anyone disagrees to that then you don't have a clue as to the privilege to drive and do so safely while obeying traffic safety laws, even as minor as you may think this was), but everything after that was just a shit show du jour on his part. And also, if you have any reason to disagree with a police officer regarding your traffic stop, plead not guilty and hire a competent traffic attorney. Otherwise, you're just asking for more shit coming your way. And NO, I'm not saying she had it coming being dragged from her car and ending up dead in a jail cell. It should just go without saying that the place to argue with the law is at the courthouse or magistrate's office.

[uponit7771]

37. +1, good point... if there was a safety issue he would've pulled her earlier... the previous car did

... not pose a safety issue

[Uncle Joe]

17. He only told her to put out the cigarette after Bland said that she was irritated

because her statement of this fact set him off, he let his emotions get the best of him and decided to rub salt into her emotional womb.

He told a previous driver in the same video that he was only giving them a warning, he only told Bland that he was just giving her a warning after he was already committed to arresting her.

He could've defused the situation had he told Bland that he was just giving her a warning ticket after she said that she was irritated instead of commanding her to put out a cigarette, the last time I checked smoking tobacco in your car was perfectly legal.

Thanks for the thread, Randy.

[H2O Man]

22. Blaming the victim.

Not surprising, but extremely offensive.

[Dawson Leery]

23. Harry Houck was a Marine.

Piss on his service, it amounted to nothing and did nothing good.

[niyad]

25. too bad that he does not have to rely on the VA for any medical care.

[Horse with no Name]

26. When you are rude to cops, you pretty much assure that you are going to be ticketed

THAT should be the ONLY price you pay....
It is NOT against the law to be rude and you don't "owe" courtesy to any LEO, especially when one is being a dick to you.
For him to demand that she stop doing a legal activity in her own private vehicle and then punish her when she refuses is a textbook definition of abuse of power.

I am so tired of these jackbooted thugs insisting that people must comply to any order--even unreasonable and unconstitutional orders and those that disobey deserve to die.

[daleanime]

29. +1

[Warren DeMontague]

31. I'm going to repeat myself; don't "arrogant" and "suicide" seem like an odd combination?

...

[CANDO]

35. Why did she tell sherriffs at the county lockup of a previous suicide attempt?

That seems to be a very curious thing to tell someone. They certainly failed to provide adequate surveillance at that point for sure.

[alphafemale]

40. As I understand a box on her intake form was checked.

Whether that was done before or after she was dead and who checked it is still in question.

[CANDO]

41. Well then there needs to be an investigation on the matter.

Did she verbally explain this while a prison employee filled in the paper? Or did she fill out said paper herself. Was she filmed doing so? Etc, etc. This is a tragic circumstance indeed. Many people are understandably suspect of LE in general after recent high profile events. Jumping to conclusions one way or the other isn't helping to find the truth.

[Kalidurga]

32. It sounds like an admission of suspicion of murder.

He knows they give special treatment to prisoners that are "arrogant from the beginning."

[rock]

33. Sounds like a cop who needs more donuts

His skin is way too thin!

[msongs]

39. "former NYPD" explains all nt

[Rex]

43. SO what he told the nation was that law enforcement can mysteriously kill you if you support

and ego or ask questions. THAT should worry every single American, yet most will never have a clue.

He basically just admitted that law enforcement is nothing but murdering thugs with frail egos. And I bet he has no clue that he said just that...yet he probably thinks (and says as much) she deserves to be dead.

Law enforcement has a basic fatal error that keeps affecting innocent lives, fatally.

[ThoughtCriminal]

44. Seems to be an admission that she would still be alive if not arrested.

Hmmm...