ACTIVIST Alyssa Phillip announced yesterday that Friday’s march and her arrest during Labour Day celebrations in Fyzabad marked the end of the 19 Bullets, 19 Protests campaign.
In a statement posted to social media yesterday Phillip said that this chapter is now closed as she thanked those who stood with her adding that she had never been comfortable with the title “activist” but was “simply someone who is willing to speak up about the issues that affect us all.”
She said that June 19 was never meant to be another march but was a “call for the people of Trinidad and Tobago to find their voice, speak their truth and stand firm in their convictions without fear.” She added that it was a call for young people to understand that their voices matter, there was power in numbers and that “real change” only occurred when ordinary people refused to stay silent.
“Labour Day reminds us of the sacrifices made by those who came before us, and yesterday’s (Friday’s) events served as a reminder that history often repeats itself when people stand up against injustice. But no movement can be carried by one person alone. It requires every creed and race, every community, every concerned citizen coming together for a common purpose,” she said.
She thanked all those who supported her spiritually and within the digital space.
“Thank you to everyone who shared our message, sent words of encouragement, checked in on my well-being, and kept the conversation alive,” she said.
“Your support has shown that this movement is bigger than any one individual. The fight for accountability, justice, and a better Trinidad and Tobago continues,” she said.
On Friday, Phillip and her mother, Camille Caresquero, were each been charged with three offences following their arrest during the Labour Day march in Fyzabad.
Phillip was charged with leading a march and failing to call on participants to disperse, disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest. Caresquero was charged with being present at a march and failing to disperse, obstructing a police officer and resisting arrest.
Both daughter and mother had been at the forefront of public demonstrations and vigils calling for justice and transparency, following the decision to charge Kaia Sealy with manslaughter and firearms-related offences in connection with the death of her husband, Joshua Samaroo, during a police-involved incident on January 20 in St Augustine. Samaroo was shot 19 times, inspiring the name of Phillip’s “19 Bullets, 19 Protests” campaign in support of her friend, Sealy.
It was the second time Phillip and her mother have been arrested for such protests and they are currently on bail on separate charges following a protest near the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Port of Spain, last month.
They later appeared before Magistrate Indira Ramnarine Misir-Gosine and pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from that demonstration along Richmond Street.
