Page 22 - 8-7-15 Friday's Edition Updated

National
Sandra Bland’s Family Files Lawsuit
HOUSTON - An attorney representing Sandra Bland's family will file a law- suit at the federal courthouse in downtown Houston on Tuesday, the attorney's office says.
The lawsuit will be filed against Trooper Brian Encinia "and others respon- sible for the death of Sandra Bland," the office stated in a press release overnight.
Encinia arrested Bland on July 10 in Waller County. She was later found dead in a jail cell in Hempstead on July 13. Officials say she used a plastic bag to hang herself.
Many of Bland's family, friends and others on social media worldwide have ques- tioned that explanation.
The 28-year-old was ar- rested her for allegedly kicking Encinia during a traffic stop near Prairie View A&M. Dash- cam video does not make clear whether or not that happened, but does show the encounter quickly escalating after Encinia tells Bland to put out her cigarette.
The trooper was put on desk duty for violating procedures during the stop.
Last week, Waller County of- ficials released hours of video
SANDRA BLAND
of Bland inside the jail to try to disprove claims of foul play. While lawmakers in Austin grilled law enforcement and jail officials on jail standards and dealing with potentially
mentally ill inmates.
Bland had told jailers she
had previously attempted sui- cide but jail staff said she seemed fine when she came in.
On Tuesday night, Texas Southern University is also continuing that conversation. They'll be holding a forum with community organizations and leaders to come up with more ways to hold law en- forcement accountable and try to prevent another situation like Bland's from happening again.
Kraft Recalls Single Wrapped Cheese
Nigerian Military Rescue 178 Hostages From Boko Haram
MAIDUGURI, (Nigeria) -- Nigeria's military said Monday it had "besieged" Boko Haram positions in the Is- lamist militant group's north- eastern heartland after setting free 178 hostages, mainly women and children.
The ongoing operation has led to the capture of a Boko Haram commander, accord- ing to the army, while a "large number" of the extremists have been killed in air strikes.
The hostages were released on Sunday near Aulari, about 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, once a jihadist stronghold.
The Nigerian military has announced the release of hun- dreds of people held by Boko Haram in recent months,
Nigerian army patrols area near Boko Haram camp.
many of them in the vast Sam- bisa forest, a longtime bastion of the Islamist group. Sunday's rescue came after several at- tacks by Boko Haram in re- cent days. Thirteen people were killed in an assault on Malari village about 20 kilometers from Maiduguri.
Kraft is recalling 36,000 cases of individually-wrapped cheese singles because part of the wrap- per could become a choking haz- ard.
The recall includes certain 3- and 4-pound packages of Amer- ican and white American slices, Kraft said. Those affected have a "best when used by" date be- tween December 29, 2015, and January 4, 2016, followed by the manufacturing code "S54" or "S55."
"A thin strip of the individual packaging film may remain ad- hered to the slice after the wrap- per has been removed," Kraft said. "If the film sticks to the slice and is not removed, it could potentially cause a choking haz- ard."
The company said it has re- ceived 10 complaints and three reports of choking.
The affected packages were distributed to the United States, Puerto Rico and Grand Cayman.
Hundreds Support Confederate Flag In Birthplace Of KKK
Rally in Stone Mountain.
Former Ferguson officer Darrin Wilson.
A little less than a week be- fore the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown Jr.’s fatal shooting — the unarmed Black teenager whose death at the hands of a White police officer sparked what has arguably be- come the largest Black libera- tion movement in decades — the New Yorker published a profile of the shooter that ex- plores his life following Aug. 9, 2014 and what he thinks of the aftermath of what many believe to be a racially tinged incident.
The profile — is being criti- cized by Black Lives Matter ac- tivists and Twitter users who believe the piece was humaniz- ing a man who killed an 18- year-old boy — aimed to highlight a vein between Dar- ren Wilson‘s often challeng- ing upbringing, his eagerness to learn how to be the best cop, and the shooting that followed his encounter with Brown, though it wasn’t exactly clear how any one of these factors will exonerate Wilson in the court of public opinion.
What was clear is this: Wil- son, whose very name pro- pelled a movement in the Black community calling for justice, doesn’t think race has anything to do with, well, anything.
Interesting for someone who, while having been found not to violate Brown’s rights, was part of a system the Justice De- partment found to be racially biased. As originally reported,
MICHAEL BROWN ...was killed on August 9, 2014 by Darrin Wilson. The shooting sparked the #Black
Lives Matter movement.
a DOJ report says the discrim- ination was perpetuated due to the racial stereotypes held by Ferguson city officials. In one incident, officials distributed racist jokes on their city email accounts, including a jab at President Barack Obama and a joke suggesting abortion in the Black commu- nity would reduce crime.
But for Wilson, who spoke with the New Yorker’s Jake Halpern over the course of a few days in his “nondescript” St. Louis neighborhood, the Justice Department’s numbers about racial-biased traffic stops, arrests and treatment are “skewed.”
“Everyone is so quick to jump on race. It’s not a race issue,” Wilson told Halpern. There were two opposing views about policing, he said: “There are people who feel that police have too much power, and they don’t like it. There are people who feel police don’t have enough power, and they don’t like it.”
But the lengthy profile has its contradictions. Wilson may not believe race has any- thing to do with policing, or Ferguson, or the way he re- acted on Aug. 9, 2014, but he makes sure to highlight how uncomfortable he was during his first round of policing in a poverty-stricken neighbor- hood.
Near 1 Year Anniversary Of Shooting In Ferguson, Magazine Demonizes Victim; Attempts To Sympathize Shooter
Protest Outside Justice Department: Activists Demand Justice For Women Being Targeted By Police
STONE MOUNTAIN, GA --- Over the weekend, hundreds of people showed up to Stone Mountain Park in Georgia armed with Confederate flags, signs, and concealed weapons to advocate for their traditions and the rebel flag that has been at the center of a heated racial debate since the Charleston AME massacre last month.
Despite video of some pro- testers screaming out “White power,” the Sunday event was peaceful, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. Protest- ers maintain the recent demand to remove the flag from the park’s entrance is unnecessary. Shortly after the Confederate flag was taken down from the South Carolina Statehouse in July, Stone Mountain’s flag and monument of Confederate war heroes came into question.The flag was never removed, and ac- cording to law, no one is al- lowed to touch the figures carved into the side of Stone Mountain.
Anti-flag protesters were also in attendance, but were kept away from the rally with a fence and a group of police officers.
Tensions began to rise when supporters climbed the moun- tain and caused friction with others who were at the park with their families.
A photo of the moment a flag supporter attempted to pull his gun out on a police officer went viral, showing the startling dif- ference between police interac- tion with a Caucasian American versus their interaction with Blacks.
Pastor Jamal Bryant and a group of activists from around the country protested outside of the offices of the De- partment of Justice on Mon- day, demanding direct intervention in the Sandra Bland case.
“We’re asking Loretta Lynch take over the case,” Bryant said.
“Over the last two weeks, 6 African-American women have died in police custody, and so while we realize Black men have already been tar- geted in mass incarceration — it looks like the next in line seems to be Black women,” he said.
“Today we’ve assembled from literally all over the east- ern seaboard to take a stand, not just for Sandra Bland, but for sisters who are under attack all over the country.”
When asked why this issue is bigger than Sandra Bland, Tamika Mallory of the Jus- tice League NYC said, “I am Sandra Bland and all the women who are here today who have assembled feel the
Protestors outside the Jus- tice Department.
same way.”
“That officer target[ed] her
and did not necessarily know anything about her back- ground, which means that it could have been me on that street. It could be my mother, my sister, it could be any one of us at any time.”
“We cannot stand by and watch what we know is a pat- tern happening in this country where women are turning up dead in police custody.”
“We believe that the Depart- ment of Justice needs to do what it says that it does, and protect every citizen and every human being the same.”
PAGE 10-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015