Black Immigrant Daily News

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Newly elected THA Deputy Chief Secretary Dr Faith BYisrael, left, and her predecessor Watson Duke at a special sitting of the assembly, Shaw Park Cultural Complex, Monday. – David Reid

A new political party may be on the horizon in Tobago.

This comes following the dismissal of Farley Augustine, Faith BYisrael and Alicia Roberts-Patterson as deputy political leaders of the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP).

Speaking on the Tobago Updates morning show on Wednesday, BYisrael said the options are being weighed.

“We in the Tobago House of Assembly, we now need to decide what we do politically next. Forming another political party is an option. We are exploring all options at this time. By all options – I mean all options.”

She said someone sent her a suggested name of a political party two days ago and it brought tears to her eyes.

“All I know is PDP – that is what I know. So it is hard to even start thinking now about forming another party and so forth but we recognise that this is where we are and like any other adult, you have to treat with the situation that is in front of you and if that is what we have to do, that is what we will do if necessary.”

On Monday, BYisrael, who holds the portfolio of Secretary for Health, Wellness and Social Protection, was sworn in as the new Deputy Chief Secretary at President’s House, St Ann’s, replacing Watson Duke, who resigned from the position.

Her election came after a public feud between Duke and Augustine over what the former claimed was the latter’s failure to respond adequately to the plight of members of the Roxborough Folk Performers who had gone to perform at several events in New York.

Duke claimed the assembly did not provide enough funding to the group to cover expenses other than airfare. As a result, he charged, the members were stranded, stressed and hungry.

Augustine denied the claims, saying the THA provided part-sponsorship for the group of $400,417.50 for airfare and other expenses.

The Chief Secretary later said he was reviewing Duke’s role as Deputy Chief Secretary, as he was not carrying out several of his responsibilities.

Thereafter, the chief secretary went silent. But BYisrael is of the view that his silence spoke of strength.

“It shows that we’re not willing to get into this public banter, because it should have never been a public banter. The chief secretary very clearly outlined the process that we use as the executive council to provide the support to the group that went to New York. The political leader/ former deputy chief secretary, he was very aware of what that process was and there was no reason for that to become a public thing.”

She said she was uncertain of the rationale behind Duke’s video as the situation was under control.

“The fact remains though that the executive council made several decisions to help the group, we had honoured those decisions. Even though the chief secretary had agreed on going a certain distance to help the group, hearing the plight the chief secretary and other members of the executive council had already started doing the additional work to get them the additional support.

“So by the time the video was actually released, a lot of this had already been resolved or was on its way to be resolved. So there was really no need to do this grandstanding because the resolution was already happening, some of it had already happened by that point”

She said the issue has left her distraught.

“I am heartbroken – I actually spent quite a lot of time building this organisation as a family to us. So to see the last two weeks play out has been absolutely heartbreaking. I went to bed every night to tears because this is your family that you know, that you built. This is our family that we built, and it is very difficult to see what may seem to be a rift.”

“Families having their thing and it’s happening at home, it is one thing, but to see it plastered all over social media and the public space, that is very difficult.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A St Catherine man is continuing to count his luck after he and his friends survived Sunday’s horrifying mass shooting incident at the Best Dressed Chicken sports complex in Spring Village near Old Harbour in St Catherine on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking exclusively with Loop News three days after the attack that left three persons dead and six others nursing injuries, the lucky spectator said it was the first time in years that he and his friends had gone to a football match at that venue.

“The greatest ting is wi alive and ting. We haffi talk about it ’till we kinda recover out ah it,” said the man who asked for his identity to be withheld.

According to the police, the incident unfolded at the football field at about 5:10 pm on Sunday.

Fitz Bailey, the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the crime and security portfolio, said a gunman allegedly alighted from a Toyota Mark X motorcar during the football match, and opened fire on the crowd which included some employees of Jamaica Broilers.

The man told Loop News that he could not recall how long he was at the football match or when the gunshots began.

“If mi tell yuh a time, a lie mi would a tell,” he said jokingly, but yet very cognisant that he could have lost his life.

Though he could not recount the time of the incident, the spectator recalled that he and his friends were among the crowd at the venue.

“From mi hear a shot mi lif up,” he said, adding that his friends also ran.

“As mi say, as mi hear the shot mi just lif up and jump over one tall wire (perimeter) fence. Mi run guh over one yard and run go inna one house. Anything happen otherwise, mi nuh see it,” he recalled.

In those moments of his quest for survival, the man shared that he harboured no thought of whether he would eventually live to tell the tale.

“Mi nuh have dah mind deh… Mi just know mi want run, and when mi see the fence, mi seh mi haffi go over dah fence yah,” he said.

In several social media videos of the incident, gunshots were heard being fired wildly as several persons scampered to safety, while others stooped down on the field to avoid being shot.

When the shooting subsided, screams of horror and disbelief echoed across the venue.

Asked whether he went back to the football field after the shooting subsided, the survivor said a resounding, “No!”

Continuing, he said: “Mi nah guh back desso. As mi seh, mi jump di fence, mi run guh inna one yard and go inna one house.”

He indicated that he did not know the occupants of the house, but he explained to them that he was not a wrongdoer.

Additionally, the survivor of Sunday’s gun attack said he could not recall how long he was sheltering at the house while gunshots were being fired at the football field.

“Anybody would ah scared,” said the man of his feelings in that short span of time.

The victims of Sunday’s bloodbath have since been identified as Jerome Squire, who the police said was the target, as well as Tamara Eubanks and a man known only by his alias, ‘Curry’.

It was reported that gunmen continued to fire at the crowd after shooting Squire, who was allegedly linked to an illegal firearm that had gone missing. That bit of theory was confirmed by Bailey in numerous media interviews.

The six other injured persons were hospitalised.

Meanwhile, the survivor who spoke to Loop News said he left the house where he sought refuge before nightfall, and headed to his own home. He said he had no indication of where his friends were in that time.

In reflecting on his survival, the St Catherine resident expressed joy that he and his friends escaped unscathed.

“Anyone ah dem (my friends) could a get shot and sinting. The greatest thing is mi deh yah suh and nutten nuh happen to wi.

“Wi haffi happy, because when yuh check the news, whole heap a people in hospital and three people mussi dead pon spot,” he lamented.

For the survivor, returning to a match at the venue in Spring Village is not a possibility for now, even though he said he is not traumatised.

“Mi nuh really feel that levels like the other rest ah people dem… If mi did inna the (football) complex (for much of) the time (of the shooting), maybe mi would ah feel more sheg up, but as mi tell miself, mi haffi guh over the fence; jump up and fly over it,” he explained.

He said his friends, too, are happy to be alive, though they reflect on the incident daily.

In his view, the mass shooting incident will be talked about for quite some time to come.

“Dem nah guh stop talk ’bout it. A nuff people did deh at the match.

“Right yah now wi just happy to live to see a next day and none a mi friend dem weh mi guh with, nothing nuh happen to them either,” the man concluded.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The main suspect in a triple homicide involving Jamaicans in New York in the US was arraigned before the Queens Supreme Court on murder charges on Monday.

The brutal triple murder case occurred in a South Jamaica residence in June of this year.

The accused, 29-year-old Travis Blake was indicted by a grand jury on murder charges and other crimes in the alleged killing of his girlfriend and her family. He was arraigned on a six-count indictment charging him with murder in the first degree, three counts of murder in the second degree, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.

According to the indictment, during the early morning hours of June 24, police from the 113th Precinct in Jamaica in Queens, New York, US, responded to a 911 call at the defendant’s residence and found three victims inside the home — 55-year-old Karlene Barnett, her 36-year-old son Dervon Brightly, and her 22-year-old niece Vashawnna Malcolm.

All three of them had been dead for approximately two days, the indictment said.

Malcolm, a nursing student at the University of Technology, Jamaica, had only been in the United States for 10 days, visiting family on summer break from school.

Blake is believed to have been Barnett’s boyfriend. Barnett’s son, Brightly, was a security guard in Times Square.

According to the charges, video surveillance footage showing the entry points of the house on June 22 depicted Blake in the backyard at around 2:50am, apparently bleeding from a hand injury and using a hammer to drive a nail into a beam of wood.

The defendant then entered the house where the victim Brightly had previously entered approximately 30 minutes earlier. Hours later, at around 7:30pm, Barnett entered the residence and never exited again.

According to the charges, on June 24, a witness who also lives in the residence noticed an odour from Malcolm’s bedroom and discovered her body after opening the door.

The witness called 911. Once on the scene, detectives found Malcolm dead in her second-floor bedroom, reportedly undressed from the waist down and bound with duct tape, with several apparent puncture wounds to her chest, according to the indictment.

During a search of the home, police gained entrance to a locked basement door and followed a trail of blood to a bedroom where Barnett was found with apparent head trauma injuries and several puncture wounds to her body.

Police also discovered Brightly in the basement with head trauma injuries and puncture wounds to his body.

Detectives recovered several bloodstained items, including a hammer, screwdriver and a beam of wood with a nail embedded in it, according to the charges. A bloodstained bucket, bloodstained bottles of household cleaner and a mop were also discovered.

The police also recovered the cellphone, passport and valuables of the defendant Blake at the house.

The accused was tracked down by the NYPD’s Regional Task Force in Bar Harbor, Maine, on June 30 and he was extradited back to Queens after he fought the process over the summer. When he was booked at the 113th Precinct and led out in chains on September 16, Blake was still wearing a Bar Harbor T-shirt.

“As alleged, this defendant carried out a horrific triple murder and then fled the state, leaving a devastated family and a mourning community in his wake,” Katz said. “Such brutal disregard for human life will not go unanswered. Despite being on the run immediately following the murders, the defendant is now in custody and faces justice in our courts.”

Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant ordered Blake to return to court on October 18. If convicted, Blake faces up to life in prison.

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