A video has since gone viral on social media showing a vendor at the Mon Repos market telling a gang of persons around her on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, to “throw more gas,” into a pile of wood and other debris, that were seen burning on the public road.
Vendors and other residents of the community of Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara (ECD) could also be seen in the video dumping tyres and other particles onto the road and into two separate fires.
Tuesday’s protest, which was allegedly sparked by a false Guyana Daily News article that reported that Kristoff De Nobrega, the Guyana Police Force’s Special Branch officer accused of killing Quindon Bacchus, 25, on June 10, 2022, was released from police custody.
Subsequently, residents of Golden Grove, Enmore, Anns Grove and other villages along the East Coast took to the streets to vent their frustration and demand Justice for Quindon Bacchus. The protest stretched from Anns Grove to BV on the East Coast of Demerara.
The protest was relatively peaceful, except for Mon Repos where it was reported that some vendors were allegedly robbed and property damaged. Sixteen persons have since been arrested. President Irfaan Ali subsequently visited Mon Repos and promised that the Government will make available millions in compensation for vendors who suffered losses.
Bacchus, a father of one, was shot and killed during an alleged shootout with the GPF on June 10 at the Haslington New Scheme, ECD. Days later, a post-mortem examination revealed that Bacchus was shot six times; five bullets to his back and one to his chest. He was laid to rest on Sunday, June 26, 2022, at the Golden Grove ceremony and witnessed by thousands who came to pay their respects.
