The Tribune

MORE than two months after filing an official complaint over a series of “hostile” and “intimidating” demonstrations that left a number of its members “living in fear”, Save The Bays (STB) said it is disappointed over the lack of response from the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

According to a press release from the environmental activism group, STB sent a follow-up letter to Commissioner Ellison Greenslade insisting that the incidents amounted to “criminal threats, intimidation and harassment”, and urged the immediate launch of a full investigation.

“Given the serious nature of the hate rallies and the victims’ continued fear and anxiety for their safety and well-being, we are concerned and disappointed by your unresponsiveness to the complaint,” the letter reads.

“The lack of response to the complaint is particularly shocking since you have in the past given an undertaking to take action against perpetrators involved in similar matters to that faced by the victims.”

The letter notes Mr Greenslade’s April 2013 warning against the use of social media to malign the character of individuals and points out that the commissioner urged victims of such attacks to report to him personally if they felt the investigation was not progressing quickly.

It also laments the fact that the attacks on STB members were not treated with the same urgency as other recent attempts to “bully, defame and verbally attack individuals.”

At the New Year’s Day Junkanoo parade, several people demonstrated against STB Chairman Fred Smith, QC, and international businessman and conservationist Louis Bacon.

The men were dressed in Ku Klux Klan (KKK) uniforms and held banners that read: “Bacon is KKK” beneath an image of a burning cross; “Fred Smith, Haitian infidel”; and “Is Fred Smith a Bahamian or an illegal Haitian?”

On December 5, 2014, the group said a similar protest featuring identical banners and costumes was held, attempting to “hijack” an event in support of the passage of a Freedom of Information Act, organised by STB.

“A march through downtown Nassau in July 2014 attacked Mr Bacon, Fred Smith and esteemed religious leader Rev Dr CB Moss, calling them frauds and terrorists,” the group’s statement added.

When contacted for comment, head of the Central Detective Unit Chief Superintendent Paul Rolle said he was not aware of the investigation.