Protester pictured coolly sipping drink amid tear gas: I did not want to project fear

Phillip Bourne, centre, drinks a bottle of water as tear gas flows out of a cannister near him during a confrontation between protesters and police at a
Phillip Bourne, centre, drinks a bottle of water as tear gas flows out of a cannister near him during a confrontation between protesters and police at a "Push Back" demonstration at the Queen's Park Savannah on Sunday. - ROGER JACOB

Phillip Bourne hoped a protest at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain, on Sunday would go smoothly, but found himself in the midst of a confrontation between demonstrators and police who tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas.

Bourne, 34, was one of several hundred people at the Push Back protest.

He was photographed sipping water as police from the Guard and Emergency Branch fired tear-gas canisters at the crowd on the front page of Monday's Newsday newspaper.

The photo spawned several memes and humorous comments from social-media users on Facebook and Instagram, who joked that Bourne's calm demeanour during the incident was out of keeping with the seriousness of the situation.

Speaking with Newsday on Tuesday, Bourne said he found out about the protest from an ad on a radio station and decided to participate to show his frustration over certain public health regulations.

He said he hoped the protest would be uneventful, but he suspected there might be some police intervention, given the outcome of a demonstration in December, which he also attended where 29 people were arrested for breaching the public health regulations.

"I wasn't really surprised it ended the way it did.

"At the first Push Back event,everyone was physically distancing and wearing their face masks, so we were doing our best to obey the regulations, despite the nature of the event, but the police still arrested people."

Bourne said contrary to how it may have appeared in the photograph, he was very concerned over his own safety, given his closeness to the riot police, but did not want to project fear, in solidarity with the other demonstrators.

"My frame of mind at the time was, you can't give the enemy what they wanted, and what they wanted, to succeed, was people's fear.

"I just wanted to be as calm and composed in the face of damger. Naturally I was concerned that I might have been hit by a tear-gas canister."

Despite the police response, Bourne said he was not discouraged from attending future protests but hoped organisers and demonstrators would be better prepared for such responses.

Asked about the joking comments from some social-media users over the photo, Bourne said he was totally unaware that he was photographed at the event.

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