WESTERN BUREAU: Michael Troupe, the leader of the People’s National Party’s (PNP) minority in the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC), on Thursday angered his colleagues on the opposite side when he blamed recent police killings in his Granville division on Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness' 'meet a judge or meet your maker' utterance in 2025.Speaking during the monthly meeting of the StJMC, Troupe referenced the January 1 deaths of four-year-old Romaine Bowman, and the May 10 killing of a 17-year-old boy, questioning their justification, while calling for Holness to retract his comment from a year ago."I am here mourning for the Granville division, because in January, three persons died by the hands of the police, and on Mother's Day, a 17-year-old boy was shot by the police,” said Troupe. “I am saying that unless the prime minister goes back and retracts the statement of 'meeting your maker or meeting the judge’, we are not going to stop killings in Jamaica because the young men are not allowed to go and meet the judge."Troupe’s statement drew an immediate response from Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon, who suggested that the former explain how he wanted men with illegal guns to be treated."So, you are saying that young men with illegal firearms should be given a chance?" asked Vernon."I am saying that if they attack the police, then the police have to protect themselves, but if the person is caught, a 17-year-old boy can go to prison and come back at age 22," Troupe replied.However, in responding to Troupe, Government Senator Charles Sinclair, the councillor for the Montego Bay North East division, flatly rejected the claim, saying that Holness' comment, which was made in February 2025 following the arrival of 56 deportees from the United States, was made under a specific context of adherence to the law."I will not sit and allow the comment that was made earlier regarding the prime minister to pass without a response, because everything he said was in a context,” said Sinclair. “The prime minister made an utterance to say that Jamaicans should not attack the police, and should not attack anybody, and the police, just like every citizen, have a right to defend themselves." "There are systems that are in place which are internal in the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force), and there is more than one independent system, the primary one being INDECOM (Independent Commission of Investigations),” continued Sinclair. “If you have been or are being abused by the police, you go to INDECOM and you make your statement that you are prepared to sign to [your statement] and stand by whatever the allegations are. All of us here as councillors must be responsible in our utterances, and you cannot want to tear down the police."Troupe’s comments came following the police’s monthly report, in which Senior Superintendent of Police Eron Samuels reported that 26 murders have been recorded in the parish since the start of the year.In an apparent reference to how the police operate in relation to fatal shootings, Samuels said there is an investigative process."We regret the loss of any life, whether it be a murder or if somebody attacks the police and the police defend themselves. We have been working with INDECOM in getting whatever information they require when these incidents happen," said Samuels. "We are asking that when incidents happen, let us not block the road. It damages the infrastructure, and if you have to go to the hospital, the same people will stop you from moving."christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com