Group to agitate for ‘Blues’

The General Secretary of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration (CMPI) David Denny is giving the office of the Attorney General a one-month ultimatum to report on why the murder case of Selwyn Blues Knight is still languishing in the Magistrate Court after five years.

Denny said that if Knight’s widow, Marleen Knight does not begin to get answers on the status of the case in a month, he would be rallying Barbadians to take to the streets to march for justice for the late barman.

The activist, who declared that the Royal Barbados Police Force should create the conditions for a special investigation into the case where police officer Everton Gittens was charged for killing Knight and shooting his son Junior Knight on March 15, 2015, said it was time the grieving widow be compensated for the loss.

On Monday, Barbados TODAY highlighted Marleen’s plight when she said she was disappointed that while Barbadians took to the streets last Saturday to protest in the wake of American George Floyd’s slaying by a white cop in Minneapolis, no one marched for justice for her late partner.

Denny said CMPI is also willing to write to Attorney General Dale Marshall requesting he holds a meeting with the widow to discuss her concerns.

“The Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration stands in solidarity with the lady and we support her case and we would like to see some form of justice. If the Attorney General’s Office doesn’t take it up as soon as possible, then it would be an issue for us to take it to the streets and demand that this woman be able to get some form of justice so that she can close her book and move forward with her life.

“Also the Government of Barbados should compensate this woman for all of the damages that would have been created because of the killing of her husband and the shooting of her son,” Denny said.

The newspaper vendor said that since the death of the sole breadwinner of the house, she has been struggling to make ends meet, and lamented that all she wants is to be compensated.

However, this afternoon, Denny visited Marleen at her Queen Mary Road, Bank Hall, St Michael home and apologized for not agitating for justice for Knight during the protest.

“We are willing to protest in front of the same very Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) to demand that this woman receive justice. We can’t do it for the people in the states and not do it for ourselves.

“I understand she has been suffering with this battle for the last five years and up cometh the Barbadian people supporting the protest action with George Floyd and I am saying that would hurt anybody and I want to apologise to her for not helping to take it up. You and your family need immediate justice because five years is too long,” he said.

Meanwhile, Marleen explained that the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) was in power when her husband was killed at Dash Gap, Bank Hall, while chasing a man who stole items from their home, and her Attorney Andrew Pilgrim wrote two letters to then Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite raising concerns about the stalled case.

She said as far as she is aware, her attorney is yet to receive a response from the Office of the Attorney General.

“He ain’t respond to me. But still he had the guts to say that if Lord Evil could get bail Everton Gittens could get bail, and in two twos, he did out on BDS$200 000 bail. But something got to be done. Somebody got to be made an example. You can’t just go about killing people, you are here to serve and to protect,” the widow said.

“Now, I ain’t got no problem protesting for George Floyd, but remember there got a man that died here protecting his home and was shot and killed by a police officer. He should be charged and the case should have been done already and some kind of compensation or something should be done for me and my child,” she added.

Marleen also shared that since the article was published, she has been contacted by an attorney-at-law working in Pilgrim’s office who informed her that the case was being held up in the Magistrates’ Court and therefore no progress has been made.

“I need it to be over because it is a thorn in my side. Every day you got to relive this thing and it ain’t getting no better. It seems as though I am the criminal but I ain’t no criminal. I haven’t done anybody anything. You know how much people now that it come back up saying ‘wait, well Mrs Knight I thought that case did done’,” she said. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb