Arresting Officer in Sandra Bland Case Fired

The officer who arrested Prairie View A&M University alumna Sandra Bland has been fired by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Brian Encinia was terminated on Wednesday, after Department Director Steve McCraw said that the former trooper with several previous incidents of questionable behavior while on duty had not offered a sufficient defense for his questioning and arrest of Bland last July just outside of the Prairie View A&M campus. From the Texas Tribune:

In the letter of final termination, McCraw said Tuesday: “I have carefully considered all the points raised by you in our meeting on February 5, 2016. I have determined that you have not rebutted the charges set out in the statement of charges of January 28, 2016. No cause has been presented to alter my preliminary decision. Therefore, it is now my decision that you be discharged from the Texas Department of Public Safety effective at 5:00 p.m., upon the date you receive this letter, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 411.007, Government Code.”

Bland, a Chicago native who had returned to Texas to prepare for a new job at the university, was found hanged in a Waller County jail cell days after her arrest. Her death was ruled a suicide by medical officials, but Encinia faces perjury charges for allegedly lying about Bland’s behavior and reasons for her arrest.