I’m not going to defend everything the cop said or did, but the whole episode would have played out entirely differently if Sandra Bland had been true to her name by being cooperative, non-confrontational, and respectful from the start. Smart people do not pick fights with cops.
Or if it had been some city attorney or county supervisor who was pulled over.
We would have never heard about this insignificant minor traffic stop. It probably would have ended with a laugh and pat on the back.