In a tweet that’s stirring social media, the director of the Oscar-nominated film “Selma” thinks the dashboard video of Sandra Bland’s arrest has been doctored.
“I edit footage for a living. But anyone can see that this official video has been cut,” Ava DuVernay said in a Twitter post, linking to an article that lists what appears to be discrepancies in the video released by the DPS (Texas Department of Public Safety).
I edit footage for a living. But anyone can see that this official video has been cut. Read/watch. Why? #SandraBland https://t.co/2JXy9Zc4Y3
— Ava DuVernay (@AVAETC) July 22, 2015
In the article, journalist Ben Norton notes that someone “clearly cut footage out and looped part of the video in order to correspond with the recorded audio of Texas state trooper Brian Encinia speaking.”
“Who exactly edited the footage is unknown, but the video was recorded by police and released by the Texas Department of Public Safety,” he added.
Bland was found dead in her jail cell in Waller County, Texas three days after her initial arrest.
From Ben Norton:
Parts of the approximately 52 minutes of footage [the DPS] uploaded have clearly been doctored. A man leaves the truck in the center of the frame at 25:05. For the next 15 seconds, he walks toward the right of the frame and leaves. At 25:19, he suddenly appears again, promptly disappears, then returns at 25:22. The same footage of him walking is subsequently repeated.
Norton goes on to provide examples of looped footage of vehicles in the background.
At 32:37, a white car drives into the left side of the frame, then promptly disappears in the middle of the road. Seconds later, the same car drives back into the frame and subsequently turns left. This footage is later looped several times.
It what was probably the most poignant Twitter post from DuVernay, she shared footage of the video and quoted Bland, asking, “Why are you arresting me?
“Why are you arresting me?” Because you know your rights. Because I can. Because no one’ll believe you. #SandraBland https://t.co/tjiMPSIPja — Ava DuVernay (@AVAETC) July 22, 2015
Below is the full video released by the DPS:
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