Even as he admitted that there is a loss in public confidence regarding the efficiency of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley urged citizens to let justice take its due course in ongoing investigations of police brutality.

“To call for immediate action without the evidence is to call for revenge as against justice. I believe those who are calling for justice are completely correct and I find common cause with them in that. Those who are demanding revenge- I warn against that approach,” Dr. Rowley said during a press briefing at the Diplomatic Centre in St. Ann’s on Thursday afternoon.

It was the Prime Minister’s first public statement regarding protests which have been occurring in the capital city since Monday.

On Wednesday, when asked about the demonstrations as he left an event in South Trinidad, Dr. Rowley responded “Who’s rioting? You?” to the reporter who posed the question.

The Prime Minister began Thursday’s address by offering condolences to the families of the deceased, including the three men who were killed by police in Morvant last Saturday, adding that the entire situation has been troubling to him.

He said an investigation must rigidly seek out answers, without hiding behind a grey-area outcome. “We cannot take the position that there are too many people on the scene so we cannot determine which one (is responsible) The evidence has to be sought for to its fullest,” he said.

If there is not a successful investigation there will be a Coroner’s Inquest into the police killing of three men last Saturday, he said.

In the same vein, he questioned how much of the events over the last three days, have been driven by emotion and  those with a prior agenda.

He said those involved in crime must also expect a certain outcome.

“When you take up arms for whatever reason, you are automatically putting yourselves in harms way with respect to law enforcement. Because the only response that the State will provide in that situation, on that moment, is an armed contingent. It is not reasonable to assume that with the level of armed civilians in this country, that the response will be unarmed police officers,” the Prime Minister said.

He denounced the idea that he has never used his time as a Parliamentarian to seek the interest of marginalized communities – particularly in East Port of Spain- referencing a program which was shot down 16 years ago by Opposition Senator Wade Mark.

“They said I was a racist, that I was seeking the interest of black people,” Rowley said, further highlighting a $30million project launched in 2016- the Morvant/Laventille Initiative- which the PM says was designed to draw at risk youth away from the claws of gangs.

Dr. Rowley says a committee, led by Dr. Anthony Watkins, will be appointed to bring a recovery plan for the people who protested on Tuesday. 

Other members on the committee include Hans des Vignes, Jamal Shabaaz, Curtis Toussaint, Culture Minister Dr. Nyan Gadsby Dolly and Akosua Edwards.