Texas

District Attorney: Sandra Bland's Death ‘Will Not Be Swept Under the Rug'

Bland was found hanged in her jail cell in Waller County, Texas, on Monday

As investigations continue into the death of a suburban Chicago woman inside a Texas jail, the district attorney in Waller County, Texas, said her death "will not be swept under the rug."

Sandra Bland, 28, of Villa Park, was found hanged in a cell in the Waller County Jail in Hempstead, Texas, on Monday. Bland traveled from Chicago to Texas last week and was scheduled to begin a new job at a local college. 

Three days before her death, Bland was charged with assaulting a peace officer after an altercation during a routine traffic stop, which landed her in jail.

During a press conference Friday, Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis said video footage of the hallway outside of Bland's cell did not show anyone entering her cell before her death. There is no video footage taken inside the cell, however.

It took jail officials about an hour and a half to find Bland after she died in the cell, Mathis said.

The videos showing the hallway outside Bland's cell and footage of the traffic stop that led to her arrest will not be released until the FBI inspects them.

As Mathis addressed the press, more than 100 people gathered outside the Waller County Jail on Friday as friends and family of Bland's questioned the official account of how she died. Family members said they were shocked by her death and do not believe Bland would commit suicide.

"There is nothing we are going to hide, we are going to get justice for Sandra Bland," Mathis said.

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