Our homes should be safe spaces. The walls should not only protect us from the weather or prying eyes, but from being harmed and killed by intruders. Unfortunately, in Guyana we are not only under the threat of thieves invading our homes and killing us, but the threat of death is also present from some law enforcement officers.
The events that leave a man dead under questionable circumstances should unsettle us. Believing that it will never be us or our kin will not eradicate the danger. Our silence will not result in an end to it. Our beliefs that we are safe will not protect us. Denying that the danger is real when groups organized by the government can kick down your door and murder you will not result in them being held accountable.
Our history of extrajudicial killings is no secret. We have gone from the cries in the early morning hours after the murder of Shaka Blair in 2002 to cries in the early hours of the morning over the murder of businessman Orin Boston nearly 20 years later. The similarities are disturbing. Memories of what came after the death of Shaka Blair are evoked – like standing in the shadows fearful, disturbed and struggling to come to terms with what had happened. Like standing at his funeral and observing the sea of red. Then in the months and years that followed grappling with how quickly the society had changed from one of peace to unrest in Buxton. The troubles would last eight years.
A friend told me she cried when she heard the news about the killing of Orin Boston. She did not know him. But the dead we mourn are not always our kin or friends. The tears were not only for Boston, but for every innocent person who has been murdered by the police in this country.
We are tired of the constant traumatic events that are plaguing our country. We are tired of members of the Guyana Police Force believing they can treat citizens anyhow and get away with it. We are tired of the threat posed by those who are supposed to maintain law and order but disrupt the law and order instead – these anti-crime operations that become crimes. While they fight the criminals on the outside of the police force, law enforcers should not ignore the ones within the force. How do we expect them to investigate themselves? How do we believe them when they tell us there will be an independent investigation?
We are tired of them lying to cover up their errors. We are tired of Guyana being a country where killers can walk free. Will there ever be peace here?
The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit said there was a confrontation between them and Boston when they entered his house to do a search. I watched an interview with the deceased man’s wife. Calmly, she told the story of them being in bed, the SWAT team invading their house and shooting her sleeping husband. According to what she said, there was no confrontation. I believe her. There was blood on the mattress, sheet and pillows suggesting he was indeed shot in bed. And even if Boston had confronted the police, every man has the right to protect his home from intruders. The wife said she laid trembling near him after he was shot. The officers were cursing. They told her to put away her phone and not film. She is a strong woman for her calm in the midst of such a storm.
The sister of Boston said they first went to her house looking for him. Who told them to search his house? Why did they search his house? Could it be that Boston’s killing was premeditated since his wife said they shot him upon entering the house with no explanation? Why? Will we ever know the truth?
A SWAT team usually operates in cases of emergency. What was the emergency in Boston’s house? Nothing illegal was found in the dead’s man home although they searched twice. Them trying to perform CPR after he was shot and dead already does not make a difference after a trigger-happy officer killed a husband and father.
Boston’s children, ages 6 and 7, were witness to the ordeal. Those who invaded that house did not even think to protect those children when one of the children met them at the door. They cried and asked that their father be brought back. Unfortunately, the children had to be told their father would never be back. We are adding to the generational trauma with these events.
It is unacceptable. It is criminal. It is a cold-blooded killing. It is the result of the police killing people throughout the years and not being held accountable in some or most instances. It is a result of corruption in this society. It is the result of people who believe they are above the law in Guyana because they are paid by the state.
State-sponsored violence is violence. A police officer killing an unarmed man is murder. The officer being under close arrest is not enough. We often hear that they are under close arrest and nothing follows. He killed a man and should be charged. What is a society when those who are supposed to protect us kill us?
In our homes we should find peace.
In our homes we should be safe.
In our homes our children should not suddenly lose their parents by way of extra-judicial killings.
In our homes our children should not be traumatised.
It is easy to be silent.
It is easy to turn a blind eye when it does not directly affect you.
It is easy to ignore the voices of the crying.
When we allow law police officers to operate like judge, jury and executioner, we all are at risk.
