K.D. Knight attacked at PNP rallyPNP member, K.D. Knight.A wave of questions and concerns has greeted news that [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]veteran[/COLOR][/COLOR] politician K.D. Knight was assaulted on the People's National Party's (PNP) platform during its [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]rally[/COLOR][/COLOR] in Bog Walk, St. Catherine Sunday night.
If their pronouncements are anything to go by, PNP insiders are worried that the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]security[/COLOR][/COLOR] arrangements at public rallies have been found to be woefully lacking as check points to the platform were so easily breached.
How could this have happened asked one member of the PNP? How could an unknown person just walk onto the stage and…the question was left hanging.
Another declared that the person assaulted could have been just about anyone.
Yet another commented that the situation could have been much worse and would be good for no one as it would fuel unnecessary speculation.
One member asked who was responsible for security arrangements for political functions, including rallies where the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Prime [COLOR=blue! important]Minister[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] and the Opposition Leader are usually present.
An immediate answer from a party official was that both the security details of the leaders and the political parties but no one seems to be sure.
Insiders are worried that the style of Mrs. Simpson Miller rendered the task of her security detail difficult, this is because she tends to walk away from them when she moves to greet persons.
Another is that members of the public have appeared to have been given free access to PNP platforms sometimes to dance with prominent political personalities.
The [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Jamaica[/COLOR][/COLOR] Labour Party (JLP) says it is more careful about the security arrangements.
Opposition Spokesman on National Security, Derrick Smith, asserts that alert security personnel are placed at access points to the JLP platform.
The man who attacked Mr. Knight is said to be of unsound mind.
It was Mr. Knight who had to restrain the angry crowd of PNP supporters who had pounced on the man. He was eventually taken to the nearby police station.
And Mr. Knight says he was taken totally off guard when he was slapped on the back of the neck by the man who climbed onto the platform during the political meeting.
Mr. Knight argued that he was whipping party supporters into a frenzy when he felt the blow. (The trigger effect, man tiyad a di fockery)
“I felt a hit on my neck right between my shoulder and my neck and when I looked around I saw a young man and he was walking off stage proceeding to the stage. I wanted to know what this was all about but anyway I turned around, went back to the podium and continued cheering and asked the people please don’t beat him, don’t let his blood be on our hands and forgive him because he doesn’t know what he has done and it dawned on me that no sane person would have come into a crowd like that and do what he did,” said Mr. Knight.
The senior PNP member says his major concern at this time is the health of the man who attacked him.
“My preoccupation will be to see how he can be assisted because he is not totally responsible for what he did. I don’t think he would have had the necessary criminal mental element,”
“These people are driven by all sorts of mental impulses and so on so one has to look to see how one can help. What I would not want to see is him deteriorate further or that someone else comes across the same kind of thing and may not be as fortunate as I was,” he continued.
If their pronouncements are anything to go by, PNP insiders are worried that the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]security[/COLOR][/COLOR] arrangements at public rallies have been found to be woefully lacking as check points to the platform were so easily breached.
How could this have happened asked one member of the PNP? How could an unknown person just walk onto the stage and…the question was left hanging.
Another declared that the person assaulted could have been just about anyone.
Yet another commented that the situation could have been much worse and would be good for no one as it would fuel unnecessary speculation.
One member asked who was responsible for security arrangements for political functions, including rallies where the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Prime [COLOR=blue! important]Minister[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] and the Opposition Leader are usually present.
An immediate answer from a party official was that both the security details of the leaders and the political parties but no one seems to be sure.
Insiders are worried that the style of Mrs. Simpson Miller rendered the task of her security detail difficult, this is because she tends to walk away from them when she moves to greet persons.
Another is that members of the public have appeared to have been given free access to PNP platforms sometimes to dance with prominent political personalities.
The [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Jamaica[/COLOR][/COLOR] Labour Party (JLP) says it is more careful about the security arrangements.
Opposition Spokesman on National Security, Derrick Smith, asserts that alert security personnel are placed at access points to the JLP platform.
The man who attacked Mr. Knight is said to be of unsound mind.
It was Mr. Knight who had to restrain the angry crowd of PNP supporters who had pounced on the man. He was eventually taken to the nearby police station.
And Mr. Knight says he was taken totally off guard when he was slapped on the back of the neck by the man who climbed onto the platform during the political meeting.
Mr. Knight argued that he was whipping party supporters into a frenzy when he felt the blow. (The trigger effect, man tiyad a di fockery)
“I felt a hit on my neck right between my shoulder and my neck and when I looked around I saw a young man and he was walking off stage proceeding to the stage. I wanted to know what this was all about but anyway I turned around, went back to the podium and continued cheering and asked the people please don’t beat him, don’t let his blood be on our hands and forgive him because he doesn’t know what he has done and it dawned on me that no sane person would have come into a crowd like that and do what he did,” said Mr. Knight.
The senior PNP member says his major concern at this time is the health of the man who attacked him.
“My preoccupation will be to see how he can be assisted because he is not totally responsible for what he did. I don’t think he would have had the necessary criminal mental element,”
“These people are driven by all sorts of mental impulses and so on so one has to look to see how one can help. What I would not want to see is him deteriorate further or that someone else comes across the same kind of thing and may not be as fortunate as I was,” he continued.
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