By LAMECH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
POLICE are expected to decide today what charge(s) to bring against a local political activist after a threat to shoot National Security State Minister Keith Bell with an AK47 appeared on his Facebook page.
Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson confirmed to The Tribune yesterday that Omar Archer Sr, arrested Friday, was still in police custody and charge(s), once determined, could be filed as early as today or early in the week.
ACP Ferguson advised the public and users of social media to be mindful of what is appropriate and what is “reckless” when expressing their views.
“It’s incumbent upon people today, and more so users of social media, not to be reckless,” he said, adding that “people need to know what is lawful and unlawful, appropriate and inappropriate.”
Omar Archer is a former Bahamas Democratic Movement parliamentary candidate who switched to the PLP and ran for the party chairmanship in 2008.
On Thursdasy evening, a long message published on Omar Archer Sr’s dedicated page on the internet website Facebook, alleges the government was somehow complicit in the death of Julian “Heads” Collie.
A series of allegations concerning the government, the police and crime were contained in a post that has since been deleted but was being “shared” across social media.
The message starts: “This PLP government has drawn the line with me.”
It goes on to say Collie was “like a brother” and claims Collie’s death and other reported murders can be attributed to an alleged conspiracy involving the government and local gangs.
It concludes with a threat to Keith Bell, Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security: “Those couple bodyguards Bell have and that small gun cannot save him from what is to come. It’s a mad fire ting going on now and he is on top of the list to be executed. I might be dead and gone before it happens but it will happen. From what I understand his face will be shot completely with an AK47 to send a clear and present message.”
Archer was arrested the following day, Friday, around 5:30pm on Dodge Road.
Mr Bell was contacted for comment but he could not be reached up to press time.
Comments
positiveinput 11 years, 7 months ago
... from what I understand his face will be shot completely with an AK47 to send a clear and present message. Notice the use of the phrase "from what I understand". Doesn't that suggests that Mr. Archer is relaying something that he may have overheard. Don't get me wrong, to threaten a persons life should be taken seriously, but in my opinion Mr. Archer is not the one sending the threat. He is simply doing the same thing the Tribune did by writing an article duplicating what was heard or read from some source-or-the-other. I personally read the post and technically the name posted included additional middle names which would make a reader assume Mr. Archer was referring to a particular individual, however by the full name he posted, it was not whom the newspaper article assumed, because the whole Bahamaland is certain that the name posted is not the individuals name that would appear on any document (birth certificate/passport).
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