[UPDATED] CoP: Beetham shooting video ploy for political mileage

THERE is a deliberate attempt to rile up hate against the police by a political party for political mileage, Police Commissioner Gary Griffith said on Saturday after a video linked to the shooting death of Ornella Greaves began circulating on social media.

Responding to the cellphone footage, Griffith said the video was edited to give the appearance that police shot and killed Greaves as she and others were protesting at Beetham Gardens, Port of Spain, on June 30.

“We are working on certain information and it looks like there was a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and steer the direction of the investigation in a particular light. If that is the case then there is a charge for that of perverting the course of justice and we will take action if necessary.”

The footage appears to show police officers on the scene before shots were fired and during the shooting. During a media conference on Tuesday, Griffith said that at the time of the shooting no police officer was around and only arrived three minutes after she was shot.

Griffith said then: “We have found video footage to show that when the unfortunate death of that lady in Beetham (took place), we have video footage and you are looking around and there was absolutely no police officer or vehicle around that area for about three minutes until that person, until a police vehicle turned up.”

He added: “When the individual was on the ground there was no police officer around for several minutes before they arrived. I have been liaising with the forensic department to put this as priority. We have to look at the ballistics to verify what weapon was fired and I have asked the DCP Operations Mr (Jayson) Forde to look at video footage of all police vehicles several minutes prior to her shooting and several minutes after and we are getting the weapons of all the police officers to be able to look at true ballistic testing to see if any of those weapons were fired.”

On Saturday, a one-minute-and-two-second video shows Greaves, a pregnant mother of five, and other Beetham residents shouting, "Don't shoot." Halfway into the video gunshots are heard and the protesters are seen running away, including Greaves. After a few seconds, gunshots are heard again as Greaves stands. She then screams and collapses before the video ends.

Griffith denounced this video, saying it was a compilation of two videos fused together with a third video left out to paint a particular narrative.

“The police service has information that this protest was orchestrated by persons with political ambitions. They are behind a campaign to paint the police in the worst light. They want to show the police in a negative light, and then they want to come out like they are the ones championing for the people, and the needs of the people. It is a hate campaign they are running to bolster themselves from irrelevancy to get public support.”

Police claimed Greaves was shot by criminals from the Beetham Gardens who fired at them, but residents said they were shot at by police. Greaves and two others were shot.

The residents were protesting the shooting deaths of three men – Noel Diamond, Joel Jacobs and Israel Clinton – in Morvant by police. Both shootings are being investigated by the Professional Standards Bureau and the Police Complaints Authority.

The seven officers involved in the Morvant shooting deaths have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigations.

This story was originally published with the title "New video contradicts police claim on fatal Beetham shooting" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

VIDEO FOOTAGE from the cellphone of Ornella Greaves, who was killed in Beetham Gardens last week, appears to contradicts statements by Police Commissioner Gary Griffith.

The footage shared on social media shows police officers on the scene before shots were fired and during the shooting.

During a media conference on Tuesday, Griffith stated emphatically that at the time of the shooting no police officer was around and police only arrived three minutes after she was shot.

Griffith said then: “We have found video footage to show that when the unfortunate death of that lady in Beetham (took place), we have video footage and you are looking around and there was absolutely no police officer or vehicle around that area for about three minutes until that person, until a police vehicle turned up.”

He added: “When the individual was on the ground there was no police officer around for several minutes before they arrived."
In response to the incident, he said, "I have been liaising with the Forensic department to put this as priority. We have to look at the ballistics to verify what weapon was fired and I have asked the DCP Operations Mr (Jayson) Forde to look at video footage of all police vehicles several minutes prior to her shooting and several minutes after, and we are getting the weapons of all the police officers to be able to look at true ballistic testing to see if any of those weapons were fired.”

The one-minute-two-seconds video shows Greaves, a pregnant mother of five and other Beetham residents shouting, "Don't shoot." Halfway into the video, gunshots are heard and the protesters are seen running away, including Greaves.

After a few seconds, gunshots are heard again as Greaves stands. She then screams and collapses before the video ends.

Police claimed Greaves was shot by criminals from the Beetham Gardens who fired at them, while residents said they were shot at by police, unprovoked. Greaves and two others were shot.

At the time of the shooting the residents were protesting the shooting deaths of three men in Morvant at the hands of the police. Both shootings are being investigated by the Professional Standards Bureau and the Police Complaints Authority.

The seven officers involved in the Morvant shooting deaths of Noel Diamond, Joel Jacobs and Israel Clinton have all been suspended pending the outcome of the investigations. During Newsday's coverage of the triple killing, Assistant Sunday editor Darren Bahaw was threatened and is now in protective custody.