A Texas Officer in Sandra Bland Case Says He Was Threatened To Keep Quiet About Wrongdoing

A Texas police officer involved in the Sandra Bland case says he was threatened to keep quiet by prosecutors. The officer alleges that he had evidence of wrongdoing and the prosecutor threatened to end his career if he came forward with the information, an accusation the prosecutors deny.

Among the things Prairie View officer Michael Kelley said this week that he wanted to tell a grand jury: Bland appeared to have marks on her forehead after a confrontation with state trooper Brian Encinia, who pulled her over last July for allegedly failing to signal while changing a lane; Encinia was on the phone with a supervisor after arresting her because he didn’t know what charge she should face; and the police report Encinia ultimately submitted left out key details.

Kelley said he was never contacted by special prosecutors handling the case, and the Waller County district attorney’s top assistant said there would be repercussions if he spoke to a Bland family attorney.

Sandra Bland’s Arrest

Sandra Bland was found dead three days later after her arrest in the jail in which authorities ruled a suicide. But her death led to protests with family and supporters citing police misconduct.

Many of Bland’s supporters have long questioned whether local authorities would fairly investigate the case. No one from the jail or the sheriff’s office has been indicted, even though the county acknowledged jailers did not properly monitor Bland or screen her properly after she mentioned she had a history of mental illness. One jailer has given a deposition admitting he falsified a jail log.

Brian Encinia, the officer who arrested Sandra Bland, was indicted on a misdemeanor charge of perjury, which is pending, and was fired by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Kelley, meanwhile, is suspended from the police department after being captured on video using a Taser on a black city councilman in Prairie View and being indicted for official oppression related to an unlawful arrest. He claims prosecutors sought that indictment as retaliation.

“I didn’t become a cop to become shady like a lot of officers,” Kelley told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “I became a cop to do justice and to try to change the community which I work in.”