Rashad Robinson, Executive Director issued the following statement:

“Backed by the voices of more than 100,000 ColorOfChange members, I renew our calls for an independent investigation by the Department of Justice into Sandra’s tragic death. From the beginning, Waller County officials have failed to expose the truth about what happened to Sandra. Before Sandra’s family and thousands of people across the country raised their voices in her defense, Prosecutor Mathis was ready to sweep Sandra’s death under the rug. Now, in the name of “transparency,” his office is releasing information that further criminalizes Sandra in an attempt to build a public case that absolves the officers responsible for her wrongful arrest and improper detention. We won’t stand for it.

“For more than 15 minutes, Waller’s toxicologist was put on display in front of a national media audience to discuss irrelevant details about Sandra that aren’t even worth repeating. This constitutes nothing more than victim-blaming, which has no place in an investigation. Even if you were to trust the state’s investigation and their claim that Sandra took her own life, Waller County Sheriff and jail officials are still criminally responsible for her death.

“District Attorney Mathis and Glenn Sheriff Smith have a history of racism and misconduct targeting Black people in the area. And due to a deep-seated crisis of corruption and discrimination in police departments across the country, police cannot police themselves. We’ve seen it time and time again, from the police killing of Mike Brown, Rekia Boyd and countless other Black victims of police violence. Waller County and Sandra’s death are no different.

“We want the truth of what led to Sandra’s death and the only way to get that is for the Department of Justice to intervene. We also want accountability for the egregious abuse that we know Sandra suffered. Officer Encinia should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and decertified so that he never serves on the force again. The Texas Department of Public Safety also requires a complete overhaul in leadership and needs to publicly address the discriminatory policing practices that led to Sandra’s violent arrest and deadly incarceration.”

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With more than 1 million members, ColorOfChange is the country’s largest online civil rights organization