A journalism professor who claims she was stopped in a suburban street for ‘walking while black’ has been undermined by a dashcam video, a police chief says. She was stopped alright…but not for the corrupted reasons she claimed to be. In fact, it was quite the OPPOSITE!
Dorothy Bland, the Dean of The University of North Texas’ School of Journalism, says she was ‘racially profiled’ when cops stopped her while exercising in her ‘golf-course community’ of Corinth, Texas, on October 24.
Four days later, the former editor slammed the two officers in a one-off newspaper column, saying she complied with them because she had ‘no interest in my life’s story playing out like Trayvon Martin’s death.’
Twenty-four hours after her article was published, police released footage of the incident which shows Bland walking in the middle of the road waving her arms up and down.
The officers are then heard asking Bland to move to the other side of the road, because they feared for her safety.
Corinth’s Police Chief Debra Walthall believes the clip proves the officers were polite and simply concerned that she could be hit by a car.
She added: ‘Every white officer that stops an African-American does not constitute racial profiling.’
Bland was walking in the middle of the street in her suburban neighborhood when the patrol car slowly pulled up behind her.
When I saw the video, those officers were nothing but professional… Every white officer that stops an African-
American does not constitute racial profiling
She was working out her arms by waving them up and down.
Bland stopped and turned around as the two cops got out of the car and approached her.
They then got out, spoke to her, and asked her to exercise on the other side of the street.
In her column for the Dallas Morning News, she said the cops had ‘flashing lights’ and ‘sirens’ as they approached her.
But on the video released sirens can not be heard.
She added: ‘I was dressed in a gray hooded “Boston” sweatshirt, black leggings, white socks, plus black-and-white Nike running shoes. Like most African-Americans, I am familiar with the phrase “driving while black,” but was I really being stopped for walking on the street in my own neighborhood?’
‘Yes. In the words of Sal Ruibal, “Walking while black is a crime in many jurisdictions. May God have mercy on our nation”.’
She then said she spoke to them as she didn’t want the situation to turn out like it did for Trayvon Martin – the 17-year-old who was shot and killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in 2012.
Bland added: ‘I stopped and asked the two officers if there was a problem; I don’t remember getting a decent answer before one of the officers asked me where I lived and for identification.
‘I guess I was simply a brown face in an affluent neighborhood. I told the police I didn’t like to walk in the rain, and one of them told me, “My dog doesn’t like to walk in the rain.” Ouch!’
On the dashcam video, you can hear the officers telling Bland to walk on the other side of the road so she could keep an eye on oncoming traffic.
‘We don’t want you to get hit,’ one of them says.
Like most African-Americans, I am familiar with the phrase ‘driving while black,’ but was I really being stopped for walking on the street in my own neighborhood?
Dorothy Bland
One told her that a truck had to stop and pull out from behind her some way down the road.
The pair then ask for her name and ID.
‘I didn’t have my I.D., but I did have my iPhone, so I took a picture of the two police officers and the Texas license plate,’ she explained.
The two officers let her take the picture, and carried on talking to her. At one point they radioed in her name to run a background check.
‘Although I am not related to Sandra Bland, I thought about her, Freddie Gray and the dozens of others who have died while in police custody.
‘For safety’s sake, I posted the photo of the officers on Facebook, and within hours, more than 100 Facebook friends spread the news from New York to California.’
Sandra Bland was a woman found hanged in her Texas jail cell in July while Freddie Gray died in police custody following his arrest in Baltimore in April.
Both cases have been championed by the Black Lives Matter movement.
She added: ‘For anyone who doesn’t think racial profiling happens, I can assure you it does happen.
Although I am not related to Sandra Bland, I thought about her, Freddie Gray and the dozens of others who have died while in police custody
‘For a sanity check, I stopped by the mayor’s house and asked him, “Do I look like a criminal?” Mayor Bill Heidemann said no and shook his head in disbelief. I appreciate the mayor being a good neighbor, but why should he need to verify that I am not a menace to society?’
After viewing the video, Chief Walthall told FoxNews.com she was proud of the way her officers acted.
She added the pair would have probably faced an investigation if they video hadn’t surfaced.
‘When I saw the video, those officers were nothing but professional. [The incident] just didn’t lend itself to racial profiling.
‘If we didn’t have the video, these officers would have serious allegations against them. It would be their word against hers.’
Daily Mail Online has contacted Bland for a comment on the release of the dashcam video.
The woman out right lied and created a story that will cause a whole lot of trouble and further damage to society for those that refuse to understand the truth. This, being a woman who would seem that she is of upstanding character. I am embarrassed for her, she has made a mockery of herself, and very publicly become a part of the problem.
She has bitten the hands of the very Officers that reached out to keep her safe. What a snake.