Members of the Maracas/St Joseph faction of the Rasta City gang are reportedly seeking revenge for the death of their leader, Kerlan “Miceman” George, who was gunned down along with one of his associates Shameel “Kazim” Ali on Thursday.
The men were killed minutes after leaving the Maracas/St Joseph Police Station where George had gone to sign an instruction handed down to him by a magistrate as part of his bail requirements on a firearms charge.
Yesterday, the streets of the community were deserted. This was in contrast to the night before when residents blocked a section of the Maracas Royal Road near George’s home and lit debris.
During the fiery protest, graffiti was spray painted on a nearby wall. It read: RIP King aka Mice D General…U see that that is family hope u ready for it…War.
A woman, who didn’t want to be identified, said George had been “a brother and a father to many.”
“Them don’t know what they do you know,” she told the T&T Guardian. “They take we family from we and is real war put here now.”
Another resident said the widely held belief in the community was that George’s hit was ordered by a drug lord who had connections to senior police officers.
“We know is the police who have everything to do with this and right now we not fraid them. Police mean nothing to us, no respect whatsoever. Bun down Babylon,” the man said.
A police officer stationed to the Maracas/St Joseph Police Station said he and his colleagues station don’t feel “anywhere close to safe.”
“It’s terrible. We are all scared because these men don’t have no fear for the law. No security has been beefed up here for us either. No sentry placed outside the station. No kind of words of encouragement, comfort or motivation,” the officer said.
Another resident said the village used to be a peaceful.
“Now we are afraid to leave our homes in the night to take a little walk. The villagers are very scared, like myself but we cannot say or do anything because these young people mean business. If they could carry out open attacks on the police, who are we, the ordinary man and woman?”
The man said he grew up with George and played football with him but never got too close to the slain gang leader.
“I stayed my distance. The young people nowadays do not know the value of life and the value of working hard for things. They only study to drink, smoke and lime and get things the easiest and fastest way,” he said.
Police sources said an emergency meeting was called yesterday of senior officers of the Northern Division to discuss the six murders recorded in the Division overnight on Thursday and instructions were given for heads of divisions with a high murder rate, to try to get those numbers below four a month.
At a joint press conference on Wednesday with Attorney General, Faris Al-Rawi and National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams said he was focusing on the Northern Division to clamp down on the spiralling murder rate there.