A Texas state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland after a
contentious traffic stop last summer was fired Wednesday after being charged
with perjury for allegedly lying about his confrontation with the black woman
who died three days later in jail.
Trooper Brian Encinia claimed in an affidavit that Bland
was "combative and uncooperative" after he pulled her over and
ordered her out of her car. The grand jury identified that affidavit in
charging Encinia with perjury, special prosecutor Shawn McDonald said Wednesday
night.
Hours after the indictment, the Texas Department of
Public Safety said it would "begin termination proceedings" against
Encinia, who has been paid desk duty since Bland was found dead in her cell.
Bland's arrest and death — which authorities ruled a
suicide — provoked national outrage and drew the attention of the Black Lives
Matter movement. Protesters linked Bland to other black suspects who were
killed in confrontations with police or died in police custody, including
Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Freddie Gray in Baltimore.
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