Several African American Texas state lawmakers have sharply condemned a white police officer’s use of excessive force against a young black woman who later died in jail earlier this month.

A police dashboard video released on Tuesday shows how a routine traffic stop escalated into a verbal and physical confrontation between a Texas state trooper and 28-year-old Sandra Bland.

The video shows the officer threatening Bland with a taser before arresting her. “I will light you up,” the trooper said, pointing the stun gun at her.

After reviewing video footage of the incident, State Senator Royce West said Bland should never have been arrested in the first place by state trooper Brian Encinia.

"Once you see what occurred, you will probably agree with me that she shouldn't have been taken into custody," West, a Democratic member of the Texas Senate representing Dallas, said on Tuesday during a news conference.

The video of the encounter also confirmed an account by Bland’s family that the confrontation between Bland and Encinia escalated after she refused his order to put out a cigarette, West said.

Bland, a resident of Illinois, was found hanged in her prison cell from an apparent suicide three days after her July 10 arrest, authorities said.

Helen Giddings, a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, said, “This young woman should be alive today.”

Suspicions have been raised over the death of the young activist, who was a vocal critic of police brutality and racial injustice. The case is being investigated by the FBI and Texas Rangers, a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction.

Authorities from the Texas Department of Public Safety said last week that the trooper was placed on administrative leave for violating procedures and the department’s courtesy policy during the traffic stop.

Civil rights activists have raised questions about the role race may have played in her arrest and death, in a county with a long history of racial tensions.

The case has become the latest in a series of fatal encounters between African Americans and white police drawing national attention.