Rumours, rage and revolvers

Hopefully, before this is published, the voyeuristic torrent of verandah gossip regarding BMW X6s will have died down and clear thought can be applied to otherwise panic-stricken babble.

Not since Dallas (TV's first prime-time soap opera) ended a season with J.R. Ewing's mystery shooting has so much time been wasted on so much speculation. Then, the query everywhere was: "Who shot J.R.?" Sadly, the question most often arising from our live local soap isn't so much "Who shot Khajeel?" as "Whose X6 is it?" The hype reached an absurd peak when JFJFS ('Jamaicans For Justice For Some') deplored police failure to release the 'suspect's' name despite having previously published names of 'persons of interest'.

JFJFS's subsequent scramble to "clarify" asserted it wasn't (necessarily) seeking the suspect's name, but was just critiquing past police policy. Why now? What did JFJFS do on behalf of any 'persons of interest' when those publications were made? Did it file any lawsuits/consti-tutional motions/class actions? Why not? Elementary, my dear Watson. The police are entitled to publish persons-of-interest lists if, in fact, listed persons are of interest to the police, on reasonable grounds, in relation to their crime-solving responsibilities.

Jamaicans for justice, get a life!

So, please spare me the sight of all that blood from wounded hearts regarding persons of interest. JFJFS could consider admitting it was jumping on this current bandwagon because of the rumour that the suspect was from the moneyed class. As the big, bad wolf said to Red Riding Hood, all the better to prove we don't discriminate, my dear. If this sudden revulsion for public lists is genuine, let's see JFJFS, for example, flay the Students' Loan Bureau for publishing lists of alleged defaulters, or corporations for publishing employment-termination advertisements.

In other words, JFJFS, get a life!

The simple fact is, at the time of writing amid the din of incessant bleating about the non-publication of the 'Big Man's' name, there's no suspect. The sole eyewitness, the taxi driver, gave no description, and according to Khajeel's immediate family, threw in several contradictory versions of the incident to boot. Eventually, the X6's registered owner voluntarily surrendered to the police. It's not a crime to own a vehicle. The crime being investigated involves the vehicle's driver, who is accused of discharging his revolver at a taxi, thus causing Khajeel's death.

If we want justice for Khajeel's family, we must avoid wild hype and begin building a case against a proper suspect, brick by brick. This can't be done in the media, and media pressure on the police to release evidentiary detail can only ensure Khajeel's death remains forever a mystery.

Finally, those attributing the incident to road rage must be high! Even using prevailing preliminary conjecture, this had as much to do with road rage as the official defence of Dudus with the Constitution. I suffer from road rage daily, which is why I try not to leave home. Road rage results in disproportionate anger, not murder. This incident, as reported, has as its root an issue the discussion of which has always been inconvenient for local power brokers, namely the under-regulated policy of permitting citizens licensed firearms, and the often corrupt methods of implementing that policy.

Control right to bear arms

Jamaica must accept it'll never control crime while embracing American-style freedom to bear arms. Until we upgrade Jamaicans' social skills through education and remove corruption from the gun-licensing regime, civilians shouldn't bear arms. Had this culprit been unarmed, no amount of road rage could've separated Khajeel from his family.

In her sorrow, the comfort I offer Khajeel's mother is found in the brilliantly insightful lyrics of Jamaica's finest songwriter, Glenroy Michael Archangelo Smith ('Ernie' to his friends).

"I never held a gun in my hand.

What am I doing here?

What is everybody staring at?

Why do I feel so tired?

Can't walk, can't run from a man with a gun

When he hit at me.

My blood on the ground; my death in his eyes

Lord that I can't see ...

If a man should die as a man has lived

Then this is not me.

But if a man should be as a man believes

Don't worry, Mama, I'm free.

Don't worry, Mama, I'm free from the bad boys.

Don't worry, Mama, I'm free.

Don't worry, Mama, I'm free from the rent man.

Don't worry, Mama, I'm free.

Don't worry, Mama, I'm free from the police.

Don't worry, Mama, I'm free.

Don't worry, Mama, I'm free from the ghetto.

Don't worry, Mama, I'm free ... ."

Peace and love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.