Police action forced protestors to remain on Bridge – protestor

Oct 23, 2012 News

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…. Claims Hicken had firearm wrapped in newspaper
A contractor from the mining Town of Linden testified yesterday, that police action towards protestors on July 18, angered demonstrators and forced them to remain on the Mackenzie/Wismar bridge which they originally attempted to cross.
Gordon Callendar, called “Bad Heart”, appeared before the Commission of Inquiry into the Linden events that left three people dead and several injured. Callendar said that he is a councilor at the Linden Municipality.
Callendar said that he was among those protesting the hike in electricity tariffs on July 18. He said that he left his home and went to the Winifred Gaskin Highway to lead protestors over to the Toucan Call Centre where a massive meeting was scheduled to address the electricity issue.
The contractor said that on the journey, another group of protestors from Christianburg joined the procession at the junction of Burnham Drive and Winifred Gaskin Highway. He averaged that the people numbered about 9,000.
He said that the march was destined for the Call Centre but the protestors started to move slowly as they approached the end of the bridge. “The people encountered some difficulty with the police.”
According to Callendar, Commander of the Division, Clifton Hicken, Mr. Stanton and other police officers were at the end of the bridge monitoring what was happening. He said that a police rank driving a gold coloured police vehicle sped up to the protestors on the bridge and started to rev his engine yelling at persons to, “get out of the way.”
He said that those actions enraged the protestors and the people “decided to stop there and then.” He said the people then started to chant and yell for justice when Hicken called back the policeman driving the vehicle to exit the bridge. “The next thing,” Callendar said, “Water, food and other items started to come on to the bridge.”
Around 14:30 hours, Callendar said that he noticed a Canter truck filled with black clothes policemen who went into formation a short distance away from the bridge. He said that an officer then raised a black banner with white writing and started to talk on a loud hailer ordering persons to “disperse and go home or the police would open fire.”
Callendar said that he later learnt that the officer was ASP Patrick Todd.
He said that the protestors again got angry and started to surround the police who in turn retreated and drove off after boarding their vehicles.   Callendar said that around 17:30hours the police returned to the bridge with guns raised and again went into formation, heading towards protestors.
Callendar said the officers gave no warning but started to fire tear gas, pellets and live rounds at the crowd.
Callendar testified that he held on to a child and he and two women went to the water treatment plant on the left side of the bridge where he said he was able to see Commander Hicken with a fire arm wrapped in a newspaper.
The man said that he was not the only one to see the officer with the small firearm. He said he also saw the police on the bridge firing gunshots from the Mackenzie end coming through to Wismar end. He continued that around 18:00hours blackout engulfed the community and it was more chaos as persons scrambled to safety.
As the police went through the bridge he said persons’ belongings; music set, food items including his digital camera and laptop were tossed overboard. Callendar said that at that point he had already taken a boat and crossed over to the Wismar end of the bridge. While there, he said a young man who was later identified as Shemroy Bouyea, fell in front of him.
A staff from the nearby hospital later attempted to help the hurt man but realized that he was already dead.
In earlier evidence, Callendar testified that he along with Chairman of Region Ten Sharma Solomon and Charles Samson had a meeting on July 16 with Commander Hicken, Officer in Charge Mr. Stanton and one Mr. Williams. The meeting was about outlining the five-day protest in Linden.
He said that Hicken told Solomon on the meeting’s conclusion, “You don’t know me and if you want to know more about me, ask Mr. Aubrey Norton about me and furthermore tell him I’m around in Linden.” Callendar said that he understood those words to be threats going out to the team.
This evidence was however excluded from the witness’s statement since he spoke of the meeting but not the contents, Attorney for the protestors, Basil Williams explained.
Callendar also said that before the events, he received a phone call from Commander Hicken who threatened him that he was coming up to Linden and he would be taking him (Callendar ) for a ride to Georgetown. That was on July 17, Callendar said.
He said that he took Hicken’s words seriously as he “knew those guys to be funny people who could make people disappear.” Callendar said he understood the Commander’s words to mean that he (Callendar) could disappear between Linden and Georgetown.
On the morning of July 18, Callendar said Hicken, Stanton and a Corporal Jordan came to his home. He said he told Hicken, “I’m living here and if you want me anytime, I’m living right here.” The policemen subsequently sped away, Callendar claimed.
Callendar also told the Commission that following the events in Linden, he was advised to get out of the community. He said he did not return to Linden until three days after the President’s visit to the community.
It was later revealed during cross examination by Attorney for the police, Peter Hugh, that Callendar had never mentioned the Commander’s threats in his statement to the COI. He also said he made no report about the alleged Hicken threats to the police or the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

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