Ex-cop on CNN says Sandra Bland died because she was ‘arrogant from the beginning’
theGrio REPORT - Tuesday, former NYPD detective and CNN contributor Harry Houck argued that Sandra Bland would not have died in police custody if she had not been “arrogant from the very beginning.”
Tuesday, former NYPD detective and CNN contributor Harry Houck argued that Sandra Bland would not have died in police custody if she had not been “arrogant from the very beginning.”
“An officer does have the choice to bring anyone out of the vehicle when he stops them for his own safety,” Houck told CNN’s Don Lemon on Tuesday. “The whole thing here is that she was very arrogant from the beginning, very dismissive of the officer, alright?”
CNN political contributor Marc Lamont Hill pushed back by pointing out that Bland did not have a legal responsibility to “kiss the officer’s butt.”
Hill opined,
She has a right to be irritated. A lot of us get irritated when we get pulled over. This officer comes to her and says, ‘Is there something wrong? You seem like you have an attitude.’ He’s trying to pick a fight with her.
Sometimes police officers act as if you’re not completely kowtowing and deferential, that somehow you’re violating a law. This is a perfect example of how vulnerable black women are in public spaces to law enforcement.
Houck interrupted: “Even if he de-escalated that whole situation, she would have kept coming at that officer the way she did.”
“I don’t think he baited her at all. She just wanted to be uncooperative,” Houck continued. “She had a problem with the officer, she had a problem with being stopped, she didn’t like the fact that she was being stopped. Her whole arrogant attitude.”
Not surprisingly, the debate was heated.
Check out the segment above.
