THE TENSION was a physical thing in Spanish Town, as pedestrians and motorists were terrorised by angry mobs. The key arteries of White Church, Red Church, Young and Nugent streets, and several sections of Brunswick Avenue were blocked. Grey columns of smoke billowed into the sky, as tyres, old cars, tree trunks, and other junk burned in a series of roadblocks on the Spanish Town Bypass.
JUTC BUS TORCHED
A mob torched a JUTC bus that had been parked on the soft shoulder of the road after experiencing mechanical difficulties the night before. The charred remains of a late model Toyota Corolla motor car was also spotted on the bypass. In the meantime, firemen were called in to douse the flames which had engulfed the police command post in the bus park at Burke Road.
The police said a civilian's Toyota Camry motor car was shot up on Brunswick Avenue after "someone accused him of looking like a cop".
Stores were reportedly looted in the LOJ Shopping Centre, police said. After threats to torch the Spanish Town courthouse, the sitting of the Circuit Court and Resident Magistrate's Court were abandoned. The town was almost deserted, with only minimal signs of activity. Schools such as Jose Marti High, St. Catherine Primary, St. Jago High, Spanish Town High, Primary and infant schools, and the GC. Foster College were all closed. The few students who did turn out for classes were left with the hassle of finding transportation out of the town. Many were forced to hike to the JUTC depot at Twickenham Park.
SHOWING SOLIDARITY
Residents of communities close to the PNP garrison of Dela Vega City were commanded to leave their homes to show solidarity with the protest action. A female resident of Lime Tree Grove, which sources claim is a 'protectorate' of Dela Vega City, told a reporter that "a group of boys went around the community yesterday morning, telling everyone who was at home to go into the streets and protest the killing of 'Bulbie', or else..."
- Additional reporting by Robert Lalah
