The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

ST Anne’s MP Adrian White denied playing a role in helping FNM deputy leader Shanendon Cartwright throw the Speaker’s mace out of a House of Assembly window last week.

As FNM supporters sang the national anthem outside the House of Assembly last Wednesday, Mr White visited the window, briefly perplexing elected officials. Later, Mr Cartwright threw the Speaker’s mace out of that window, raising questions about whether Mr White helped him succeed.

During a guest appearance on the radio show ‘The Final Word’ with Ortland Bodie yesterday, Mr White said the window was already opened.

“I opened the curtain,” he said. “So I pulled the curtain back. I didn’t touch the glass or wood at any time. That’s a heavy-duty window.”

Mr White said senior police officers handled opposition MPs “unreasonably” after they refused to leave the chamber.

“The police will seek to claim that we weren’t detained, but we were put into the back of Central Police Station behind the entrance, behind the police booth in a secured area in an office building, with two chairs and we remained there for approximately 15 minutes to a half an hour,” he said.

“We couldn’t leave. We were detained, and no reason was given for our detention.”

As officers shoved opposition MPs outside the House, Mr White said he feared being thrown down the stairs.

“At that point, my body, essentially, in terms of having control over which direction and where I was going had been disabled,” he said. “The only thing that I was able to do was to try to keep treading as much of the floor as I could make contact with.”