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Linden Commission of Inquiry…Wounded Lindeners say they saw cops shoot at protestors

By Michael Jordan
Two wounded Lindeners testified yesterday under oath that they saw police ranks shooting at protestors who had gathered on and near the Wismar/Mackenzie Bridge on July 18 when three civilians were slain.
One of the witnesses, 34-year-old mother of three, Alieshaw Barker, told the Commission that she managed to take two small children to safety even though she had been shot in both legs. She testified that she saw a man collapse on the bridge from gunshot wounds and that he appeared to be dead.
The other witness, Linden miner Michael Roberts, recounted fleeing towards the Linmine compound and being shot in the face shortly after. He also alleged that he saw a man collapse in the compound and later learned that the victim was Allan Lewis, one of the slain Lindeners.
The two witnesses stuck to their statements that they saw police ranks shooting at the protestors, despite being subjected to intense grilling by attorney-at-law Peter Hugh, who is representing the Guyana Police Force.
APNU parliamentarian and attorney-at-law Basil Williams is representing Barker and Roberts, who are seeking compensation for their injuries. They both insisted that they were not participating in the protest when they were shot.

“HE LOOKED DEAD TO ME”    
Identifying herself as a single parent of four children,  Alieshaw Barker told the Commission that she had left her 71 Half Mile, Wismar home at around 17:00 hrs on Wednesday July 18, 2012 for the Wismar/ Mackenzie Bridge in search of her 15-year-old son.
Ms. Barker said on arriving at her destination, she saw a massive crowd, ‘sporting, drinking and playing ball’ at the Wismar end of the bridge.
She recounted that she saw some of her neighbours and asked of the whereabouts of her son. She was informed that the lad was at the Mackenzie end of the bridge.
“I left and went on the bridge in search of my son, and before I could reach at the Mackenzie end, I heard gunfire,” Barker said.
“I looked towards the Mackenzie end at the Bosai fence. I saw a man running… he fell down; he looked dead to me. A Rasta man was behind him; he put his hand behind his (the fallen man’s) ears, and shook his head. I said ‘that man look dead to me, take that man to the hospital’.”
Barker estimated she was about 17 to 18 feet away from the men at the time.
“I turned back, and just as I turned back I saw two children, aged between five and seven. I hugged both of them and I say ‘this is no place for children, where is your mother?’ they crying and they say they don’t know where their mother is. So I say ‘the police shooting, this is no place for kids’. I hugged both of them and proceeded towards the Wismar end of the bridge. When I reached to the middle part of the bridge I hear gunshots again.”
She said that her right foot ‘canted forward’ and she felt a burning in her left leg.
“I said ‘Oh my God I was shot’. I push the two children forward and I say ‘run for your life, don’t stop.’
“They stated to run, the Rastaman assist me getting off the bridge, because I was in pain.”
Barker stated that she heard gunshots again and on looking back, she saw the police shooting towards the crowd, which was running from the Mackenzie end to the Wismar end of the bridge. The woman said she was in the midst of the crowd which was running past her.
She said that three policemen in khaki had ‘short guns’ and some ranks in blue uniforms had ‘long guns’.
According to Ms. Barker, she saw three of the police ranks in khaki and others in dark-blue uniforms coming towards the crowd “with their guns pointing at us”. The woman said that she eventually took refuge behind a shack, but then teargas was discharged near her hiding place. Barker alleged that she was then forced to run back towards the crowd where the shooting was taking place.
Barker said that she eventually managed to stop a passing taxi and asked to be taken to the Wismar Hospital Complex.
“When I got there, there was no staff and there was blackout.” However, she said that a ‘sister’ bandaged the left leg and gave her an injection.
She said that she was advised to seek further treatment at the Mackenzie Hospital, but went home after being unable to receive treatment at the facility.
However, she said that residents decided to take her back to the Mackenzie Hospital, but when she was near the facility “there were police firing shots in the vicinity of the PPP offices and the Linden Technical Institute.”
She eventually reached the hospital where she was admitted. An X-ray examination revealed that a bullet was lodged in her left leg.
Ms. Barker said that she was also treated in Berbice. She subsequently presented several medical receipts to the Commission.
A police medical report submitted to the Commission stated that Barker suffered penetrating wounds and trauma to both thighs which compromised mobility of the lower extremities.
Under cross-examination by Attorney-at-Law Peter Hugh, Ms. Barker stated that a bullet was extracted from her left leg.
“Did you see the bullet?” Barker was asked by the lawyer.
“Yes,” she replied.
Asked whether she had submitted the bullet to the Guyana Police Force, the woman replied that she had not, owing to what she claimed was the incompetence of the police force and the misplacement of evidence.
Pressed further, Barker stated that she had handed over the bullet to “Mr. Sharma Solomon.”
Attorney Hugh then asked the witness whether she had heard police using a loud hailer and asking the crowd to ‘disperse or we will fire,’ Barker said that she had not heard this order, neither had she seen police hoisting a banner warning the crowd to disperse.
Under further questioning by Hugh, Barker conceded that she did not see who had shot her. However, the woman said that after being shot, she had turned around and seen police ranks firing in her direction.
Michael Roberts, the other witness, also came in for intense questioning when he took the stand and alleged that he had seen the police shooting at the crowd. He had a tooth knocked out after being shot in the face and is also seeking compensation for his injury.
Roberts, a miner, of Independence Avenue, Linden, told the Commission that he had arrived at the Wismar/Mackenzie bridge at around 11:30 hrs on Wednesday, July 18, 2012.
He told the Commission that he had gone to the area to wait for his wife, who is employed at the Mackenzie Magistrate’s Court. He said that his spouse had informed him that the bridge was blocked, so he came to wait for her on the Linden half of the bridge.
He recalled that because the sun was hot, and because there was “an atmosphere of a fun-day”, he decided to seek shelter under a tent. According to him, the Wismar/Mackenzie boat service, as well as mini-bus and taxi services, had halted their services on the day of the protest.
He said that he did hear a siren when police arrived at around 17:30 hrs, but he said that he did not hear a policeman on a loud hailer advising the gathering to disperse; neither did he see any banner displayed by the ranks. According to Roberts, he was some 80 feet away from the bridge.
Roberts conceded that when the police arrived at around 17:30 hrs, the protestors advanced towards the ranks. According to Roberts, he ran into the Linmine Utility Compound when the ranks eventually discharged tear smoke.
He said that about two minutes after running to the compound, he saw two police ranks on the bridge, and admitted to hearing the sound of bottles breaking on the roadway.
Roberts said that while running into the compound he heard “lots of gunshots being fired”.
Told by attorney Hugh that he could not have recognized the sound as being gunfire, Roberts responded that he had undergone a one-year training stint in the Guyana National Service, when he had used firearms.
“I heard explosions, I saw one of the canisters fall on the zinc and I heard gunshots.”
Questioned later by Commission member Justice Cecil Kennard, Roberts said that while he was running through the Landmine Utility compound, he saw a man, whom he was later identified as the now dead Alan Lewis, fall to the ground.
Roberts said that his mistress turned Lewis over “and I told her to run before you get hit, then she told me that he (Lewis) was one of the guys who was under the tent with us.”
But attorney-at-law Hugh suggested that Roberts never saw any police fire in his direction because of the crowd in the compound in which the miner had taken shelter.
“I suggest to you that you merely saw one of the two policemen turn and raise his hand, and at that point, you turned to run again… and when you turned to run you felt something hit your face. You did not actually see any police fire or discharge a gun in your direction,” Hugh contended.
“I did see that, Sir,” Roberts replied.
Hugh: “You were not in a position to see the police on the bridge.”
Roberts: “I was in a position to see him, Sir.”
Hugh: “Isn’t it your evidence, only a few months ago, you saw one of the policemen raise his hand, and at that time you turned, to run away?”
Roberts: Yes Sir, I turned.”
Hugh: “The last thing you would have seen would have been a policeman with his raised hand…having turned to run, you ran.”
Roberts: “As soon as I turned, I felt the impact (of a gunshot) to my face.”
Hugh: “Did you fall, or did you run?”
Roberts: “I held onto my face and I told my Mistress (spouse) I got shot.”
Hugh: “Did you fall, or did you run?”
Roberts: “I did not fall, I held onto my face and I started to run.”
Hugh: “You would not have been focused on the police on the bridge having turned your head to run.”
Roberts: “I was able to, Sir.”
Hugh: You have eyes behind your head?”
Also taking the stand briefly yesterday was Chief Fire Officer Marlon Gentle, who spoke of the damage to the PPP office and the Landmine Secretariat. He described the arson at the properties as “malicious setting of fires to buildings by person or persons unknown.”
Another witness was Mr. Ronald Lewis of Garnett Street, Kitty, who had taken several photographs of events that occurred at Linden on Wednesday, July 18.
He is likely to be questioned further today.