CoP tells Nakhid: Politicians can be 'monsters' too

CoP Gary Griffith  -
CoP Gary Griffith -

Police Commissioner Gary Griffith hit back at opposition senator David Nakhid and questioned who the real monsters were, given the stance of the opposition on the anti-gang legislation.

On Sunday, Nakhid posted a video to his Facebook page where he chided the police for the deaths of two men, Andrew "Solo" Morris and Joel Balcon, who died in police custody.

Nakhid also referred to an incident where officers of the Special Branch interviewed a man who was engaged in an argument with Griffith on social media and questioned whether TT was a police state, citing his own experience being arrested while living in Lebanon.

Griffith responded to Nakhid's remarks on Tuesday in a media release where he claimed the opposition through Nakhid appeared to be more concerned about the police than the criminals.

Referring to Nakhid challenging the use of the term "monsters" to describe criminals, Griffith said the term could also be used to describe politicians who fail to lobby for legislation that could protect society.

"If we were to talk about monsters, I would refer to those who say it is now legal and appropriate to be a gang member, whereby criminal leaders can now easily recruit young men to be in a gang that can lead to their death. That is a monster.

"I see a monster as those who utilise their votes in Parliament to say that it is appropriate that persons held with assault rifles, with specific intent to kill, be granted easy access to bail; whereby they return to the streets to target witnesses or commit further acts of violence to law-abiding citizens. Those are monsters.

"I see a monster being those who negotiate with criminal elements and grant them massive state contracts whereby they use this profit to purchase more weapons, drugs and hire more young men to be gang members that escalate violence in this country, to the point that a senior counsel was also killed. Those are monsters."

Griffith noted while he had no political leanings, he questioned why Nakhid repeatedly called for his resignation based on the actions of a few officers. He said using this logic the Opposition Leader should also resign given past legal challenges.

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"CoP tells Nakhid: Politicians can be ‘monsters’ too"

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