Nearly 200 demonstrators gathered outside the Police Administration Building in downtown Port of Spain on Tuesday, channeling public anger over the fatal police shooting of Joshua Samaroo and demanding the immediate resignations of Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro and Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander. The peaceful demonstration, part of a coordinated series of protests, was organized to stand in solidarity with Kaia Sealy, Samaroo’s partner who faces manslaughter charges over the January 20 incident that left Samaroo dead from 19 bullet wounds.
The protest, held at the intersection of Sackville and Edward Streets, was launched just days after the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) announced arrest warrants for Sealy, whom authorities claim opened fire on officers first during a police chase, prompting the fatal return fire that killed Samaroo. Organizers have structured 19 planned demonstrations — one for every bullet that struck Samaroo — making Tuesday’s gathering the 15th in the ongoing campaign for accountability.
Protesters carried hand-painted placards emblazoned with messages including “We saw the video”, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, “We demand truth, not cover up”, and “The next Joshua could be you”, chanting refrains of “Shame on the TTPS” and “Hands up, don’t shoot” as they called for criminal charges to be brought against the officers who opened fire instead of Sealy.
Speaking to the assembled crowd, protest organizer Allysa Phillip alleged that state authorities are actively attempting to shift blame for Samaroo’s death onto Sealy, framing her as a convenient scapegoat to protect officers accused of excessive force. “They want Kaia Sealy to be responsible for their damages,” Phillip told supporters. “The Commissioner of Police said from inception that he would be protecting his officers. This means to me that he will go to any length to defend his officers whether they are right or wrong. This is a dangerous precedent to set. They are fabricating this ridiculous cock and bull story to try to make us believe that Kaia is responsible for Joshua’s death.”
Phillip also called on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to break her public silence on the case and address the growing national unrest over the killing. “To the Commissioner of Police, Sir, you cannot stay in your position. You must step down. And to the Prime Minister of our country, we are sick and tired of hide-and-seek games. You need to address your country. The nation is bleeding,” she said.
Maria Walcott, a close friend of Sealy, used her speech to push back against a recent Guardian newspaper report that claimed Samaroo’s father, Christopher Samaroo, had reversed his position and acknowledged Sealy may have shot at police. Walcott denounced the article as a deliberate misrepresentation designed to erode public support for the protest, accusing local media outlets of manipulating public opinion instead of reporting accurately.
“The media is leaving the citizens feeling more manipulated than informed,” Walcott said. “The senior Mr Samaroo is denying all allegations made in that article of saying any claims of Kaia being responsible for Joshua’s death. Such interviews and such words were never said by Mr Samaroo but were somehow publicised for everybody to see. Why is it on the day when the nation decided they are going to come out for what we know is more than an injustice, why are we releasing false information again to sway the people from coming out to fight for what is right?”
Walcott also condemned how Sealy first learned of the pending charges against her: through public social media posts, rather than official legal notification, at a time when Sealy is still recovering from severe injuries sustained in the shooting and cannot stand or care for herself. Questioning the official police narrative of the incident, she pointed to widely circulated cell phone footage of the shooting that contradicts law enforcement claims.
“We all saw the video. Let us be reasonable about this,” Walcott said. “My friend cannot stand up for herself, literally because the car was riddled with bullets. Joshua was riddled with 19 bullets. So my question is: if police were receiving fire from Kaia, why is it that all of their attention was directed at Joshua Samaroo? If police were being shot at, do they not receive training that when you exit a vehicle you take cover?”
She also added allegations of post-shooting mistreatment, claiming officers threw an injured Sealy “like a dog” into the back of a police vehicle, forcing her to lie on top of the wounded Samaroo while she listened to him struggle to breathe.
After the protest concluded, local outlet the Express reached out to Christopher Samaroo to confirm the claims in the Guardian report. Samaroo said he had not fully read the article and directed all media inquiries to his attorney, Criston J Williams, who confirmed that Samaroo had not reversed his stance that Sealy did not fire at police.
Williams explained that Samaroo’s original comments were taken out of context: Samaroo simply acknowledged that if the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions files charges, due process must run its course, and that Sealy remains innocent until proven guilty. “What was stated by Samaroo was taken out of context,” Williams said. “I just think the father understands that if there is a charge, that due process has to take course and she is innocent unless proven guilty.”