CHICAGO (AP) – A candlelight vigil was held in Chicago’s Federal Plaza late Wednesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of Sandra Bland, a black woman who died in a Texas jail cell after a traffic stop.
Bland was pulled over by a Texas state trooper and taken to the Waller County jail in Hempstead, Texas. Three days later, she was found hanging from a jail cell partition. A plastic garbage bag was around her neck, and a medical examiner ruled her death a suicide.
Dashcam video of her arrest and the circumstances of her death provoked national outrage.
The vigil Wednesday evening was hosted by Women’s All Points Bulletin, which supports female victims of police violence, and Black Lives Matter Chicago. It was attended by Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed Veal, and other family members.
Bland had been moving to Texas from the Chicago area at the time of her death.