Sandra Bland death to be investigated as murder

[Read the post]

1 Like

Why the fuck was she in jail for three days for failing to signal!? What the fucking fuck?!

15 Likes

No one cares about video of the discovery. We care about the video of the hours leading up to the discoveryā€¦ and we would like it without cuts. Otherwise, this stinks of coverup.

2 Likes

Of what use are rights when they can be disregarded willy-nilly?

3 Likes

The cut footage only contains 72 hours of officers saying ā€œstop resistingā€.

7 Likes

Itā€™s got to the point where I canā€™t visit my friends in the US. I mean at all. Unless the agree to meet me in certain cities or states. Itā€™s very sad. And freedom is dead. Weā€™ve long passed peak freedom.

1 Like

Iā€™m a permanent resident and Iā€™m afraid to leave because A) I fear the border and B) I worry I wonā€™t get back in. Last time I crossed a border I almost ended up in jail in Puerto Rico for three days (as I was traveling on the eve of a three day weekend) because 1) my name was ā€œconfusingly similarā€ to a wanted felon and 2) my ā€œcomputer recordsā€ were ā€œmissing and/or incompleteā€ā€¦ like I have any control over what records ICE/CBP has on meā€¦

3 Likes

I visited my friends in Florida from the UK in '96. Just because the ā€˜computersā€™ at customs hadnā€™t recorded my leaving a year earlier, I was accused of being an immigrant and shipped back home to London on the next flight without even being able to wash or clean myself up nor an opportunity to contact my friends who were waiting to pick me up and were obviously very concerned, increasingly worried. It was very painful for me cause I suffer from excema. 20 hours on an airplane fucks up your skin. From London I still had to find my way back to Newcastle upon Tyne. Another five hours. I havenā€™t visited the US since, despite invites and opportunities. I wonder why that is.

8 Likes

it sounds like the cop was trying to get the filmer to stop filming? My god, this whole thing is just chilling.

Insane. And they didnā€™t care about like, passport stamps? Thatā€™s a worry of mine - I had to leave the UK as my visa was dependent on being a student, but the school stressed that I had to leave the day my suspension of studies went into effect. So I did. six months later, I get notice from the home office that I have to leave the country by day X. Iā€™d really like to be able to go back to the UK, so I worry that they might think Iā€™m still there. But Iā€™d been hoping that my passport stamps would be proof enough that I left if there were a problem on reentry.

Reentry problems.

Not just for astronauts.

You think the death squads are going to pull you from your car?

Not to say that there arenā€™t huge injustices (this example article shows one of those in detail) but it isnā€™t like Juarez on a bad Narco cartel day.

1 Like

Itā€™s not like that doesnā€™t happen, Al. Particularly if youā€™re one of those less popular ethnicities or gender preferences. Granted, itā€™s less likely in some areas than others, but it is a valid concern.

Clearly it does happen or we wouldnā€™t be having a conversation on this thread.

That said, ā€œreasons to fear going to the USAā€ do not normally include ā€œdeath squads with summary executionā€ for travelers. Youā€™re probably safer as a tourist than a Black or Hispanic citizen (unfortunately).

andā€¦wait a secondā€¦donā€™t I know you? :smile:

I subsequently contacted the US embassy in London and I was told Iā€™m very welcome to visit the US but I have to obtain a visa first. The irony is too rich even for me, Iā€™m British and not allowed into the land of freedom for a holiday and to meet up with my friends unless I fill in lots of Brazil-like paperwork.

Iā€™ve mostly let that memory go but Iā€™ve often thought that they should have allowed me to at least contact my friends who were worried sick and allowed me to clean up a bit. Bastards. I was only 17 yo and the condescension was sickening.

I have friends in LA Iā€™d love to see but Iā€™m worried. Unfortunately I think I must wait until they see me in the UK when they next visit.

1 Like

If you want to visit the UK and you feel confident enough to do so, Iā€™d be happy to show you some lesser known areas of interest.

I think - from UKvisited- friends whoā€™ve the visa thing is just like 12 pounds and ten minutes of an online form. Kind of a pre-visa. Although who knows. Apparently all these kind of irritations - how many hoops you have to jump through, how much it costs, how long it takes- are the sort of common diplomatic tit-for-tat that countries subject each otherā€™s citizens to when theyā€™re feeling miffed about some other petty slight.

International relations: apparently just like a really awkward holiday dinner with the extended members of a very passive aggressive family.

I originally looked this all up because the first time I went to the UK on a student visa, in 2004, it took me about twenty minutes to do, was fairly straightforward, and was free. The second time I went to the UK and needed a student visa, in 2006, it cost $150 and took an hour, and was of the level of difficulty as, oh, a not-too-complicated tax return. The most recent time (2012) I got a student visa, it was $500, I needed a special guide put out by the university to fill it out correctly. I did not only have to present evidence of my acceptance to the university, the university had to fill out some paperwork on the other side of things. And separately, issue me with some sort of number which also verified that I was a student. I then had to first get not just any passport photo but a special passport photo from a specific licensed place (one of only two in the state) and then to make a trip to a department of homeland security/INS regional office for them to officially take down my information and pass it on to the home office (it was a very weird arrangement, where the US agencies were just subbing in for the UK. It wasnā€™t something the US government was doing itself.).

It was quite a dramatic change over a relatively short period of time. But especially after that last one, I figured it must have been ONE hell of a (figurative) awkward family dinner. I

2 Likes

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.