Murdered TikToker and links to MoBay don 'coincidental' - Chang

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang says it is "purely coincidental" that Marvin '41 Busshead' Samuels, the TikTok social media personality murdered in Montego Bay on Friday night, is related to an alleged gang leader.

“The fact that this TikToker is related to someone who is considered a leader in the underworld in Montego Bay is purely coincidental,” he said on Saturday. 

The St James police have not established a motive for the killing. 

But the minister acknowledged that Samuels' connection to "elements which are currently in conflict" raises the potential for violence in the tourism mecca. 

“Last night's killing opens up the potential of a gang conflict, which we are aware of. I've asked, and I know the police are going to take every step to prevent the kind of retaliation and war a war that could break out between two gangs in Montego Bay,” he told journalists during a tour of Sangster International Airport. "They (the police) will move aggressively and hard to disrupt any of that."

Samuels, 23, was shot and killed by unknown assailants around 10 p.m. on North Lane near Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay. 

His death, just one day before his birthday, follows the high-profile killing of social media influencer Xavier 'Niah Gang' Fogah, who was shot and killed on December 7 during a live TikTok feed in St Catherine.

And despite concerns surrounding the intersection of social media and violence, Dr Chang said that there are no plans to restrict use of the platforms in Jamaica.

“Jamaicans enjoy the social media space. We are talkers.... I don't think there's any systematic attempt to silence any member of it, from any angle at all,” said Chang, who is also deputy prime minister and a member of Parliament for a constituency in St James. 

- Albert Ferguson

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