The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

“WE MARCH” lead organiser Ranard Henfield yesterday insisted that the Black Friday march would be “well organised” and “peaceful”, as he sought to allay local and international fears that the rapidly growing demonstration could become violent and chaotic. 

Projecting that the number of participants could swell into the thousands, Mr Henfield told The Tribune that residents and tourists have nothing to fear as protestors will be well-behaved and professional.

Mr Henflied said organisers suspect that some detractors will try to “infiltrate the march to cause confusion”, and to that end, officials intend to alert the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

He said every organisation that will be represented on the march will have “marshals”.

Mr Henfield dismissed concerns highlighted by the United States Embassy in a security message to its citizens, which warned that the Black Friday march could become violent or chaotic. He noted that the US Embassy is in “full support” of the protest, and its recent warning to its citizens was a “formality”. 

“This will be a well-organised, quiet march tomorrow,” he said. “Everybody who I’ve spoken with, every organisation that is represented under the 40-plus organisations will have marshals. We expect there will be people who don’t support the march, trying to infiltrate the march to cause confusion, we are prepared for that. The police have been notified. 

“But again, as far as the persons who will be marching, I can assure you we will all be well behaved, there will be no rioting, there will be no shouting, no arguments, nothing, this will be a well-organised, professional, peaceful march.” 

He added: “The police have actually come on board in full support. We’ve gotten all of the permits and approvals for everything from the police now, so we’re not holding up on anything. So I would say we have the support of the police.” 

Promoted as a silent protest, “We March” will start at Arawak Cay at 1pm today. 

From there, organisers will lead participants into downtown Nassau on their way to Parliament and remain there until 1am the following day. 

The event, which has been posted on Facebook for much of the last two weeks, has attracted significant support from activists and civic organisations, as well as the support of the country’s two umbrella unions, the Obie Ferguson-led Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the John Pinder-led National Congress of Trade Unions Bahamas (NCTUB). 

On Wednesday, the US Embassy highlighted the proposed 12-hour occupation of downtown Bay Street as part of a series of crime warnings, and warned that demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn “confrontational and escalate to violence”.

To that end, the Embassy advised US citizens to “avoid the areas of the demonstrations, and to exercise caution if in the vicinity of large gatherings, protests or demonstrations” while in The Bahamas this week. 

Additionally, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe confirmed on Wednesday that the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) contacted the ministry to express concerns given the thousands of cruise ship passengers expected to be in port on Friday. 

When asked if he was concerned about the US Embassy’s warning, Mr Henfield said: “I can assure you that the US Embassy is in full support of We March. It’s (the warning) only a formality. So they really have no concerns to be honest. They actually encouraged us.” 

However, Mr Henfield seemed to take exception to Mr Wilchcombe’s assertion that the march’s organizers should have first met with the government to discuss its campaign, suggesting that many of the concerns listed are at various stages of redress by the government. 

“Obie Wilchcombe, the guy that just said in the papers last year that the people should march?” Mr Henfield remarked.

“You want me to respond to that guy who just said in the papers last (year) that people should march because crime is out of hand and this government hasn’t been able to address crime?”

According to Mr Henfield, protests are also expected to be staged simultaneously in Grand Bahama, Abaco, as well as in New York and Toronto, Canada. The march will be broadcast via Periscope and Facebook Live, according to officials. 

For today’s march, participants have been asked to wear black clothing and not to take part in any media interviews.