Murder victim’s mother to lead march
The proposed abolition of term limits and gun murders will be the impetus behind a protest march on Parliament by a group of concerned residents on March 1.Marilyn Outerbridge, mother of murder victim Haile (Star Child) Outerbridge has called on residents to take a stand with a symbolic joining of hands with the families of murder victims.Mr Outerbridge, 34, and Ricco Furbert, 25, were gunned down at Belvin’s Variety on Happy Valley Road on January 23.Two men held in police custody in connection with the double murder were released last week.In an interview with The Royal Gazette, Ms Outerbridge vowed “the march will be the first of more to come”.As far as she is concerned the issue of term limits, work permits and the displacement of Bermudians, particularly black Bermudians, are inextricably linked.“I think its time for Bermudians to take a stand, we need to deal with this issue of term limits immediately and the gun murders claiming the lives of young black men.“We’re urging the people to join us as a show of support because these are our children being displaced in their own country,” said Ms Outerbridge.“I read the blogs and there are those who think we, as Bermudians, don’t have a right to be employed in our own country. It is our duty to take care of our own.”And she maintained that the impact of displaced young black men in Bermuda is abundantly clear.“If we weren’t so separated in this country we would stand as one, even though its only our young black men being murdered,” said Ms Outerbridge.“If we say it takes a village to raise a child we should know the village does not only consist of black people. But it’s only our young black men who are killing each other.“For me it’s time to do the right thing and stand up to ask why haven’t we solved this problem, is it bigger than what meets the eye?“We have a whole lot of educated people here who don’t seem to be able to figure out what to do while our children are dying.”Asked to respond to the criticism that protest marches do little to solve the social problems faced by Bermuda today she begged to differ.“Go ask Rev Martin Luther King and Dr E F Gordon and all the rest who stood for justice and equality that same question.“Persecution is persecution, we want justice done, we want it seen to be done, to me there’s no difference,” she said.“Bermuda is a country in crisis, and we need clarity on what this Government’s intentions are because we don’t feel they have our best interests at heart.“I’m talking about the Bermudian people and specifically, if I dare say, black Bermudians, who have been feeling disenfranchised in their own country for years.”She recalled the recent forum held to discuss term limits and other reforms at St Paul Centennial Hall, led by Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy.“I was one of many there that night and we could clearly see that Mr Fahy was not interested in what the people had to say, if he was he would put a stay on it.“But instead, he’s looking to open the door for employment for the children of non-Bermudians. Our children have been trying to get summer jobs for years and can’t get them.“That’s more disenfranchisement, I really don’t care which way they spin it, it is what it is,” she said. ““If I’m wrong I stand to be corrected but I don’t think I’m wrong on this one.“There’s too many unemployed Bermudians, young men and women.“When you strip a man of his dignity because he doesn’t have the means to provide for his own family it fuels the illegal drug trade,” she said.“While it may be young black men dealing drugs on the street level, I know they’re not the ones financing the importation of big drugs into this country.“They are being used as pawns and it has made life here hellish, but the financing is coming from a source much bigger than them. It’s somebody bigger than all of them.“There’s only two ways drugs and guns can get into the country and that’s by air or by sea. Even a blind man can see that they’re getting into the country.“We don’t work in HM Customs and you will never convince me that someone is not turning a blind eye to what’s really happening,” said Ms Outerbridge.“It’s not enough for me or anyone else to think its just these young guys who are financing Bermuda’s illegal drugs.“It’s a problem and we cannot continue to pretend that its not, or that its just our people involved. Somebody is not doing their job or looking the other way and we need to know.“This country is being dealt a death blow and I want to know whose really behind this death trade because I know somebody knows.”Ms Outerbridge said that Public Safety Minister Michael Dunkley appeared to be “grasping at straws.”“It is not enough to say he is going to do this and that at the back end and not tackle this problem from the front end,” she said.“What we need to know from Mr Dunkley is what is he doing to stop these weapons from getting into our country.“That should be first and foremost, that's where his focus should be, that's where he needs to start.”She added: “Cash from CrimeStoppers hasn't made a difference all this time and I don't think it will for information on guns either.”When contacted last night, National Security Minister Michael Dunkley said: “I certainly understand and appreciate Ms Outerbridge’s concerns and those of the community.“There is no quick fix or easy solution to this problem but be assured we will not rest and work every lever we can to make Bermuda a safer place.”
The issue of guns and gun murders was raised in the House of Assembly on Friday during the Opposition’s Throne Speech reply.
National Security Minister Michael Dunkley noted that nine murder cases will go before the Supreme Court this year.
And despite the ‘naysayers’ he promised the One Bermuda Alliance Government will press ahead with anti gang and anti gun initiatives. Asked to respond to the criticism that the proposed gun bounty will do little to take guns off the streets he replied: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
“Everybody knows as politicians we all get the blame but we will do what we have to do,” said Mr Dunkley.
He commended the increasing number of “brave witnesses” who have come forward with information to help solve “more and more crimes”.
And he was hopeful that the need for cash in light of the current recessionary climate will pay high dividends with regards to cash incentives to get the guns. An education programme to boost public awareness will be laid out in March and April.
Cash incentives will follow by way of CrimeStoppers for “information that directly leads to the turning in of guns, ammunition and anything else the police deem appropriate”.
And he stressed that all information will be kept confidential.
Said Mr Dunkley: “The economic reality of the times that we face could tempt people to be involved in it and that fact that our community is petrified by what’s happening with gangs and gun violence.
“I think people will come forward. We will carry this programme throughout the year with public education, the gun bounty programme and then we will go into an amnesty and continue the public education.”
But at the same time he said it was Government’s job “to have the front end working”.
He pledged to “reach out to the young people and change the conversation with them”, in addition to building stronger families, a more vibrant community, better organisations and to fix the public school system.
As for the “back end of that equation”, he said: “We have to help those, and I will keep saying it, that are caught at the dead end of the gangster lifestyle on a dead-end street.”
“It is clear that this Government will use every legislative tool we have within our confines under the Constitution to make it more difficult for gang members to carry out their trade. We will disrupt their rhythm,” he said.
“The Opposition said in their reply to the Throne Speech that they wondered what the national police plan was for the police.
“It’s clear, they’ve had a plan for two years, guns, gangs, drugs and antisocial behaviour, that’s the plan, that’s what they’re going to deal with.”
He commended the former Government for starting the Safe Streets Programme, but questioned why it “didn’t get off the ground” and promised to make happen under the OBA Government.
“The Safe Streets Programme facilitates real mediation on the ground with gang members and we will build that programme and make it work,’ said Mr Dunkley.
He also noted that the Premier hosted clergymen at the Cabinet Office on February 5 “to help them get out of the pulpit and get out on the streets” to build relationships.
But other MPs were not so optimistic Progressive Labour Party MP Glen Blakeney questioned the “fundamental thinking” behind the plan.
“It’s not visionary, not novel, it’s really not workable if we don’t have secure borders,” said Mr Blakeney. Ultimately he said: “We’ll be a dog chasing its tail.
“There should be a bounty or bonus for customs officers charged with our border control for catching any marine traffic, local or international in Bermuda waters who I believe personally are as responsible for guns getting into the island as there would be guns getting into the island through air traffic.
“And until we have secure border controls any talk or any effort to get the guns off the streets is going to be futile.
“We can’t get the drugs off the street, drugs and guns are going hand in hand and coming in the same package. So if you can’t get the drugs off the streets, how are you going to get guns off the street?
Said Mr Blakeney: “Why not offer an amnesty or a bounty for the drugs?”
Asked to respond, Mr Dunkley questioned why Government would pay customs officers a bounty for doing what’s required of them as part of their job.
