132 / 494
131
6.40
Denton Dacres assumed that the citizens in Tivoli had created the
barricades but, because of the ethos of the community, he did not seek to
ascertain whether his assumptions were true. He said –
“Must be citizens from the community that put up the
barricades. I saw them on the weekend. Tivoli is a place
where you cannot question people ‘bout them business. You
just live.”
The Gunmen – Evidence of Senior Officers of the JCF and JDF
6.41.
We have recounted elsewhere that high level officers in the JDF
and JCF testified that Intelligence reports suggested that, approximately,
300-400 gunmen were imported into Tivoli Gardens and related areas in an
effort to mount resistance against the security forces.
6.42.
CoP Ellington testified about the efforts of persons to restrict the
ingress and egress of the security forces and prevent Coke’s arrest. In answer to
questions put to him by Ms. Deborah Martin, counsel for the JCF, the
Commissioner spoke of the Intelligence he received:
“There were gunmen in Tivoli Gardens – armed people
manning sniper positions. We saw guns. The Intelligence
operatives photographed them and brought back videos of
criminals with high-powered weapons at sentry points and
sniper positions. They had binoculars…..And we saw people
putting sandbags on balconies in dwelling houses with
families in them. I recall one scene where two young men
were stacking sandbags on the balcony of a dwelling house
which is an apartment creating a gun-port within the
sandbag and there was a woman with a little baby who was
in that house. She came out on the balcony and went back
inside. There were other locations, other positions which
our operatives collected evidence of this kind of activity
taking place around the community of Tivoli Gardens.”