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Death Threats to Antiguan Ministers
Regardless of one's opinion of those in power, violence and the threat of violence is seldom ever justified in a democratic society at peace. So when Information Minister Melford Nicholas told journalists on August 12th that such threats had worsened recently, everyone was alarmed. But why the worsening of these threats? And who should respond? And how?
According to Nicholas and Prime Minister Gaston Browne, social media and website comments are one of the more preferred avenues for some to level such threats - a reminder of how cyberspace often gives a person a feeling of distance, anonymity, and impunity when meting out abuse. Across the Caribbean, the popularity of leaders is, perhaps, at an all-time low, as governments enforce lockdowns, curfews, business closure, and vaccine mandates, in response to Covid-19, and despite recent regionwide protests against such measures.
It's worth remembering that St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves was hit in the head by a projective during an anti-government protest on Thursday, August 5th. If you were paying attention, it unleased a wave of pitiless and unsympathetic vitriol online, from jokes, to lightheartedness, to praise for the aggressor, to calls for the same to befall other Caribbean leaders.
The national mood worsened after August the 8th, in Antigua, when police riot units used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse an anti-curfew, anti-vax, anti-government protest on Market Street, St. John, in a move many saw as heavy handed, and even as an attack on civil liberty. But it was a move which the Prime Minister later praised, denouncing the protesters in a rhetoric strewn televised address. So, obviously, people were pissed. But does that anger ever justify reckless violence or the threat of violence? Our guests say 'no' resoundingly. But neither are they impressed by how Browne has responded to the recent threats.
The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:
This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 22nd, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.
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By The Big Issues Production TeamRegardless of one's opinion of those in power, violence and the threat of violence is seldom ever justified in a democratic society at peace. So when Information Minister Melford Nicholas told journalists on August 12th that such threats had worsened recently, everyone was alarmed. But why the worsening of these threats? And who should respond? And how?
According to Nicholas and Prime Minister Gaston Browne, social media and website comments are one of the more preferred avenues for some to level such threats - a reminder of how cyberspace often gives a person a feeling of distance, anonymity, and impunity when meting out abuse. Across the Caribbean, the popularity of leaders is, perhaps, at an all-time low, as governments enforce lockdowns, curfews, business closure, and vaccine mandates, in response to Covid-19, and despite recent regionwide protests against such measures.
It's worth remembering that St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves was hit in the head by a projective during an anti-government protest on Thursday, August 5th. If you were paying attention, it unleased a wave of pitiless and unsympathetic vitriol online, from jokes, to lightheartedness, to praise for the aggressor, to calls for the same to befall other Caribbean leaders.
The national mood worsened after August the 8th, in Antigua, when police riot units used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse an anti-curfew, anti-vax, anti-government protest on Market Street, St. John, in a move many saw as heavy handed, and even as an attack on civil liberty. But it was a move which the Prime Minister later praised, denouncing the protesters in a rhetoric strewn televised address. So, obviously, people were pissed. But does that anger ever justify reckless violence or the threat of violence? Our guests say 'no' resoundingly. But neither are they impressed by how Browne has responded to the recent threats.
The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:
This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 22nd, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.