Headlines about killings are nothing new. Bodies riddled with bullets are, again, unfortunately, nothing new. Prison escapees are nothing new. Harbouring and aiding criminals are nothing new. Gun battles between criminals and the police are also nothing new. We have been grappling with these transgressions for too long.
Unsolved crimes are also nothing new—often not because they cannot be solved, but because corruption penetrates even the institutions where those who are supposed to be the bastions of upholding the law operate. Criminals and officers of the law sometimes have the same faces. The price of selling one’s integrity and ignoring oaths to protect and serve can be inexpensive here. I listened to an interview with prisoner Mohammed Ali, who escaped from the Georgetown Public Hospital. In that interview he said that he did not escape but paid US$5000 for his freedom. So often, I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone.
There was footage of gold miner Ricardo Fagundes’ murder. With a high-powered rifle he was shot multiple times. It was like an action movie we have seen before. Why are people always being killed near Palm Court I thought when I saw the news.
News about executions can trigger stress disorders and my touch of post-traumatic stress disorder was triggered when I learned of Fagundes’ execution. I could not help the flashbacks of when gun battles were a regular occurrence; when I used to lie on the floor waiting for gunshots to cease and endured sleepless nights. Being on the road after dark was risky, but truth is, being on the road at any time was risky because those involved in gun crimes would strike at any time.
There was a burnt vehicle found on the Linden Highway hours after the execution of Ricardo Fagundes. It is assumed to be the one in which the killers escaped. It is assumed to be an attempt to get rid of evidence. I was surprised that the killers would go to such lengths since this is a place that even when killers are known they can still get away with murder. Maybe those killers were not afraid of the law enforcement but rather those who are above the law and could seek revenge.
It is no secret that scapegoats sometimes stand in the place of criminal masterminds. Sometimes it is an attempt to quiet the people. But we see it. We know when there are attempts to deceive us. All of us are not ‘sheeple’. We are empowered when we divorce ourselves from the herd behaviour. Many may be afraid to publicly speak the truth for fear of being persecuted. Death has knocked on the doors of men and women who chose to speak truth and some of their deaths are unsolved crimes. We talk in private. Rumours about motives. Rumours about those who may appear like decent men and women but are in the dark abyss of corruption and criminality.
Many are still asking who killed Courtney Crum-Ewing though there is a man who was accused. In the case of Joel and Isaiah Henry, I have watched their relatives call for the ‘real’ killers to be charged even though men have also been accused. I have watched those accused deny that it was them. But few killers will admit that they killed. Do you believe that the killers of Fagundes will be found and charged?
As we keep going around in circles, the darkness of this week continued when there was a confrontation in Better Hope East Coast Demerara between the police and prisoners Imran Ramsaywack and Rayon Jones, who escaped from Mazaruni Prison in February. Did they swim across the river to get to the East Coast? Were they in disguise if they came by boat? I am troubled to know that a criminal such as Ramsaywack, who murdered Samantha Benjamin in 2015 and dismembered her body could have escaped from prison in Region 7 and make his way safely to Region 4.
Both escapees were killed during the confrontation with the police but there was also the body of a woman who was initially unidentified. Later she was identified as 49-year-old Savita Rajkumar. It is assumed that she might have been providing shelter for the escapees. I have known others like her. Ones who would wail at the funerals of known criminals because they were benefitting from their criminality. It is unfortunate that she lost her life.
We often experience déjà vu as we grapple with the same issues time and time again. And as I have said so many times, our refusal to change or challenge the status quo is part of the reason we keep going around in these circles. There are those who would rather exist in fear than stand for justice. Those who would rather the gunshots, executions and prison escapes than challenge the system that has allowed the criminals in our society to become so emboldened.
Do we love ourselves as a nation when the conditions for mental anguish and fear are ever present and all we do is talk, speculate, hope and pray? Whether it is the actions of our leaders, failure to educate, or failure to provide the tools to elevate those at risk, this society creates many angry, desperate and soulless people. But even with tools in place, there are those who do not want to make progress by honest means. Many want to get rich quick and will do anything. Some want to be infamous for somehow it validates their existence.
With every criminal that is killed or jailed, it seems like several others rise to take their place. Poverty is the root cause for some who choose a life of crime and not enough is being done to close the gap between the rich and the poor. The inequitable distribution of wealth, poor wages and salaries, unemployment, an education system that sets up some to fail, and poor role models are some issues that contribute to criminal behaviour.
Young people need good role models so that they do not believe that choosing a life of crime is choice. We need role models who constantly reinforce that selling one’s soul for a few dollars might put money in one’s pockets, but the morally corrupt will always be poor. Ignoring the compassion in one’s heart and murdering without a second thought will not bring peace. What is a life of always being on the run? What is a life of living in fear? What is a life when you cannot envision a future?
When those involved in criminality decide to kill their enemies, the ordinary man or bystanders can also lose their lives. Therefore, we cannot ignore it and pretend that it does not or will not affect us. It might not be you, but a relative, friend or associate could be a victim. The onus is on all of us to stop this going around in circles. We must change the shape of our future and create paths that take us forward instead of bringing us back to the same dilemmas time and time again. But will we?
