Although the nation will forever remember Richard “Snake” Marcelle as the man who kicked floodwater on Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds during a tour of the community in 2018, his relatives and friends yesterday described him as a misunderstood fighter for the community after he met his untimely demise in a police-involved killing.
The 35-year-old father of one, who lived at 17 Street-D, Beetham Gardens, was shot several times by police during an alleged confrontation around 10 pm on Tuesday.
However, the police’s claim that they were fired upon by residents during a patrol in the area is being disputed by relatives and residents, who yesterday countered that he was executed.
Minutes after the shooting at Rum Street, Beetham Gardens, the officers involved took Marcelle to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Angry residents yesterday accused the police of killing men from high-risk and depressed communities.
“The police always doing we these things. The police gone with a good, good one, leaving a child fatherless,” Ronald Douglas said when Guardian Media visited Beetham Gardens yesterday.
He questioned, “Why the police didn’t address people the correct way? Pulling up in unmarked vehicle, shooting up the world, what’s that boy? Dawg…we can’t take it no more and we don’t want to retaliate.”
Douglas advised the police, “Do all yuh work the right way…stop coming round poor people with them thing.”
Noting that people in the community were hustling and struggling to find the money to purchase uniforms and books for their children with school reopening on September 5, he said the authorities, “not studying that.” “They only studying to kill a father, kill a mother, nah, nah, nah, we not having that, we not having it,” he said.
Addressing Marcelle’s notoriety following the incident with Hinds, Douglas maintained, “Mr Hinds not doing nothing for the poor people.”
Eager to see justice served in this instance and to ensure the man’s 12-year-old son Rashad was looked after for the rest of his life, Douglas said, “Right now, my heart broke…like my pocket.”
Standing inside her burglar-proofed gallery as she spoke with reporters, Rashad’s mother Temika Joseph-Inniss revealed, “Richard was a fun-loving person like any other human.”
She said her son and his father shared a bond more akin to brothers than parent and child.
“He had some great memories with his son coming down to the last,” she said, adding, “He was a really, really good fighter for his community. Many times, he would speak out, is because he was seeing injustice and things that not right.”
Joseph-Inniss said she felt Marcelle’s life has always been under threat by the police, as she acknowledged, “Leh we be real…he live he life.”
She said Marcelle had attempted to change his life for their son, but said she is leaving the situation in God’s hands now.
“He never really wanted that life…Richie was always a peaceful person…doh talk much. He was a really, really humble soul…anybody round here could tell you how he was because they know he had a fighting spirit, he had a lion spirit. He was a fighter for his community.”
She said while Marcelle did not always deal with things in the appropriate way, he was a hustler who could never be called wicked or brutal despite having navigated a troubled childhood.
A close male relative who witnessed Tuesday’s shooting recalled the five-member group had been liming on the corner as usual, when they saw a black X-Trail with bright lights shining, cruising down the street.
Saying the group was afraid gunmen were on the prowl and feared for their lives, he said, “You done know how the place wild and in Beetham…we saying is gunman and everybody just scatter. Snake run straight up in the street but the jeep just keep following and they hang out the window just shooting behind him…”
Admitting they were unaware it was the police shooting, the relative said others who witnessed the incident could testify that the officers never identified themselves to the group.
Denying any illegal weapon was found on Marcelle or at the scene, he continued, “They came back looking for a weapon, it never had a weapon. They stay about two hours here looking for gun, looking for evidence.”
Saying he felt the officers had been sent to kill Marcelle, possibly because of the 2018 incident, the witness explained, “He was the man who kicked water on Hinds and from ever since, he was a target for the police.”
Fearful for his own life now, the relative added, “This here what go on real sadden the whole community.”
Aware the police and public were now expecting the community to protest by blocking the roads and setting fire to debris, he said, “There is the right way to go about this and we want justice. We not here to disrupt nobody life, we living in peace.”
An elderly woman who peeked out a window complained, “These killings outta hand now…the place just mad.”
Attorney and activist Kareem Marcelle who is the deceased’s first cousin, declined to comment when contacted yesterday.
Richard Marcelle shot into the limelight following an incident on August 14, 2018, when Hinds was touring the area to assess damage to properties caused by flooding. Hinds, who is the MP for the area, was chased out by a group of men which included Marcelle, who kicked water at him.
Hinds reported the matter to the Besson Street Police the following day and Marcelle was charged with assault by beating and using obscene language, for which he was fined a total of $400.