‘Gladiator sought justice’

UPDATE:

Imam Yasin Abu Bakr yesterday empathised with the mothers of the five young men who were killed by the police in Laventille on October 25. He said people did not understand all that a woman went through to carry a baby for nine months and raise them, to see them killed.
“This is a real problematic situation that we’re in. We need to take the bull by the horn and deal with it now… This is survival. Nothing else makes sense. We must come together and try to save these young people who are rudderless.”

Abu Bakr was speaking at the funeral of his friend Ricardo “The Gladiator” Welch at the Nicholas Saint Rose Funeral Service Chapel in Tunapuna. The media personality and civil rights activist was shot dead while reversing out of the driveway of his Santa Cruz home on October 19. He said many children were full of rage and parents often lapsed on the job of keeping them in school. He stressed the importance of this saying education was the only chance people had to elevate themselves. He said he was very disappointed with the “older person” who “misled the young man” who killed Gladiator. However, he added that the young man probably did not have the sense to question the elder or reason that Gladiator was not his enemy and so he should not kill him. “But because they drop out of school, they can’t read, and they can’t write, and they can’t understand. That’s why it’s so easy for them to kill each other. They can’t converse.” Abu Bakr said it was not important how a person died but how they lived before they returned to God. He described Gladiator as a very good friend, and a brave man who said what he needed to say.

Winston Scarborough, Original De Fosto Himself, described Gladiator as the greatest advocates for the poor, the dispossessed, and the voiceless. He invited them to his programme and gave them a forum to express themselves. “He helped so many underprivileged people, he has given a voice to them, he brought them on the programme, he never discriminated. It had nothing to do with who you are, what you are, what is your sex, that was not important to Gladiator. What was important to Gladiator was seeking justice for people of this great country of ours.”

Also speaking at the funeral was his friend, political activist, Wendell Eversley, who told mourners it was Gladiator’s wish to have a small, private funeral. “Gladiator was not a gangster. He might talk gang talk but he’s not a gangster. Gladiator was not someone who would call a shot at someone. He was not that type of person. Gladiator was not a drug lord or had people working for him. What I do know is that he take the small man off the street and put them on radio.” He went on to warn the killers that vengeance belonged to God.

ORIGINAL STORY:

At the funeral of his slain friend, Ricardo “The Gladiator” Welch, Imam Yasin Abu Bakr said the country needed to come together to save the directionless youth of the nation.

He said the main way to do so was to ensure they get an education so they could think, reason, and understand for themselves when they were given tasks by older people, like the direction a young man probably got from an older person to kill Gladiator.

Also speaking at the Nicholas Saint Rose Funeral Service Chapel in Tunapuna, was political activist, Wendell Eversley. He said his friend was not a gangster, a drug lord, or the type of person who would call a hit on someone. Instead, at his funeral today, his friends and family remembered him as man who liked to educate himself, one who helped the underprivileged, and who gave a voice to the voiceless.

Welch was shot dead outside his home in Santa Cruz on October 19.