The Slatest

Sandra Bland Reportedly Told Jail Staff She’d Previously Attempted Suicide

Sandra Bland and state trooper Brian Encinia on July 10.

Screen shot/Texas DPS

The Houston Chronicle reports via a Texas state representative and another unnamed source that Sandra Bland told jail staffers in Waller County that she had previously attempted suicide:

The information was discussed in a closed meeting with dozens of elected officials and law enforcement on Tuesday, shortly before authorities made public the video of the arrest of Sandra Bland by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper on July 10. She was taken to the jail after her arrest.

Bland disclosed on a form at the jail that she previously had attempted suicide over that past year, although she also indicated she was not feeling suicidal at the time of her arrest, according to officials who attended the Tuesday meeting with local and state leaders investigating the case.

Bland spoke about being depressed in a March Facebook post. An attorney representing Bland’s family, however, says the family is not aware that she was formally diagnosed with depression or that she attempted to commit suicide.

Bland can be heard telling trooper Brian Encinia that she is epileptic in the video of her arrest.