The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett said yesterday he was “doing well” and in high spirits after he and a group he was travelling with were the victims of theft during a shopping trip in Florida this week.

Sir Michael told The Tribune that, contrary to reports circulating on social media, he was not held at gunpoint or harmed during the ordeal. The incident happened on Monday while he and others were shopping at an IKEA furniture and home essentials store in Doral, Florida.

Yesterday, Sir Michael seemed to be upbeat and said the ordeal had not dampened his spirits because “things happen”.

“We really didn’t realise what had happened for a while,” he said. “The bags were in the van and the next thing we know is then they weren’t there. I wasn’t held at gunpoint or anything like that. In fact we didn’t even see what happened.”

He declined to comment when asked to reveal the value of the stolen items or what they were.

The incident comes after The Bahamas on Friday

issued a travel advisory warning Bahamians, particularly young men, to be compliant and exercise extreme caution when interacting with American police due to escalating tensions over recent fatal police shootings.

Five police officers were killed and seven wounded last Thursday during a protest in Dallas, Texas, over the fatal shootings of two black men by police, Alton Sterling in Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Minnesota. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs came under fire for this advisory with some American commentators insisting that the move was political - a claim Minister Fred Mitchell has denied.

The US Embassy then released its own security message yesterday morning urging its citizens and US visitors in Nassau and Paradise Island to exercise heightened personal security awareness, pointing out that armed robberies and violent crime remain primary criminal threats.

In May, a Florida news station, WSVN, reported that members of the College of the Bahamas’ Concert Choir were also the victims of theft after stopping at a Dave & Buster’s in Oakwood Plaza, Opa-Locka, Florida, around 10pm.

Hours later, around 1am when they returned to the vehicle, it was broken into and more than $6,000 in valuables, including their costumes, laptops and iPhones were stolen.

The group of 31 students and four professors had been on a tour - with their own money - with a view to bringing a little Bahamian flavour to South Florida.