Posted on 05/23/2010 8:15:17 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Jamaican authorities placed Kingston under a state of emergency and urged people to leave the city’s roughest neighbourhoods overnight, as police clashed with armed gangs over the possible extradition of a drug suspect to the United States.
A police officer and a civilian were wounded by gunfire in street clashes and three police stations came under attack in the city, while women and children were told to evacuate. One police station was set ablaze after police abandoned it ran out of bullets, police said.
Authorities alleged that gunmen from various communities across the Caribbean country of 2.8 million had joined forces with criminal elements in Tivoli Gardens in a bid to protect reputed gang leader, Christopher “Dudus” Coke.
“It is now clear that criminal elements are determined to launch coordinated attacks on the security forces,” police warned in a statement.
With tensions soaring, they added, “all decent and law-abiding residents of Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town are been asked to leave those respective communities immediately.”
Residents asked to leave were directed to buses which would take them to a safe location. But many telephoned radio stations insisting that they feared for their lives, and could not leave.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding held an emergency meeting with his cabinet Sunday and issued a State of Emergency for Kingston and St. Andrew that came into effect at 6pm (2300 GMT) and will last for at least a month.
Trouble began earlier this week in Kingston after the government approved a US extradition request for Coke, a reputed gang boss and local community leader wanted on drug and gun trafficking charges.
Thousands of Coke supporters took to the streets on Thursday amid police reports gangs in the area were amassing weapons and had erected barricades in the street to prevent Coke’s detention, after
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
>> World’s goin’ to Hell in a handcart.
Actually, Junkmaica has been there for some time now. When I used to fly there in the ‘70s, a common expression was “Black man day come” (The Black man’s day is coming). Guess it’s here?
we are paying for all this.
f... bush and his war on drugs
yitbos
BWWWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!
These two slums are in Kingston and even locals didn't go there, but we had to drive thru them to go to the other side of the island.
The resorts are mostly on the other side of the island, and the closest crime comes to the resorts is locals kids selling pot to tourists, pinching white women at the beach or a traffic accident to/from the airport. The hotels and resorts take security very seriously, but serious crime can still happen just not too often.
And don't forget the pickpockets, available in almost any tourist trap.
I’ve got an Internet acquaintance on the ground there, the son of an Air Jamaica pilot. He’s saying Kingston is chaotic right now, gunshots ringing out, thugs setting up roadblocks, police stations being brazenly attacked by bands of criminals with assault rifles. The Jamaican government has deployed the army in support of the police (several of whom have already been killed in the past few days) and is moving on Coke’s stronghold in Tivoli Gardens. He said local news is reporting explosions (grenades) and even possibly that a military aircraft dropped a bomb on the area, but that’s unconfirmed.
It is a total and utter mess and all the locals are keeping their heads down. No word on what’s going on in the tourist areas, or if Americans there are in any danger.
}:-)4
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.