PETER CHRISTOPHER
peter.christopher@guardian.co.tt
A batchmate of murdered police officer PC Allen Moseley yesterday asked God to forgive the person/s who killed the officer last month.
During the eulogy in which he honoured his fallen colleague, PC Simeon acknowledged the chaos which followed his murder but said he hoped that positive would rise from it.
"Though his death may have been a spectacle and controversy followed, so too was the death of Jesus Christ, it made nations reflect and sinners repent. Forgive them Father," Simeon told the congregation during the ceremony at the Trinity Cathedral in Port-of-Spain.
Moseley, 32, who was attached to the Guard and Emergency Branch of the T&T Police Service, was shot dead along the Old Morvant Road, Morvant, while on the way to visit a friend on June 27. In the aftermath of his death, officers from the GEB shot dead three men in Second Caledonia, Morvant, hours later.
The latter incident sparked a series of protests in Port-of-Spain and environs and prompted Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to form a committee to look into issues affecting "hot spot" areas in east Port-of-Spain.
Almost 10 days after he was ambushed and killed and a week after the protests died down, Mosely was given a funeral under full military rites and remembered by Simeon yesterday.
The officer made further reference to wider protests across the world and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations as he posed philosophical questions to the congregation."In these times we asked the question about whose life matters and what really matters. Did his life matter? Of course it did to all that he touched with his fun-loving spirit," Simeon said.
"Does his wife, children and family's lives matter, do police lives matter, does forgiveness matter, does love matter? Ask yourself today what really matters."
During her sermon, Reverend Shelley Ann Tenia warned the congregation against allowing human wisdom to push themselves towards revenge.
Tenia warned against giving into human tendencies with regard to Moseley's death, instead asking the congregation to accept God's wisdom.
"Allow that wisdom and that revelation to guide our choices and to guide our lives. When we do that, we don't act the fool and we don't play the fool and we're able to discern what is real and what is true, who is sincere and who is not sincere," she said.
"And as Psalm 32 reminds, do not fret yourself over evildoers, refrain from anger and leave rage alone because to fret yourself is to lead only to even more evils. But we can't do that in normal circumstances with our own human wisdom because left to our own human wisdom, we will pick up a big stick and knock somebody out."
Widow Ayesha Moseley is comforted by relatives after viewing the body of her husband PC Allen Moseley following his funeral service at the Trinity Cathedral in Port-of-Spain yesterday.
ABRAHAM DIAZ
She warned further, "Yes, given our own human wisdom, some vigilante somebody is going to want to find the person who shot officer Moseley and get some revenge. In our own human wisdom, we would do what we want when we want. With no regard for the other. No respect or regard even for God or the things of God because we give ourselves over to satisfying our own desires."
However, the otherwise sombre tone of the funeral was also marked with a brief moment of conflict when Moseley's wife Ayesha Moseley stopped to gospel reading to order a woman out of the service. The woman was ushered out down the centre aisle by police on the command of Reverend Tenia.
Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith was among those who attended the service, which was held in accordance with the COVID-19 regulations.
PC Moseley, a father of five, was cremated in St James following the ceremony.