ALYSSA PHILLIP, who has led public demonstrations to protest the police-involved shooting which resulted in the death of Joshua Samaroo and the injury of her friend Kaia Sealy, was arrested by police during a peaceful Labour Day march in Fyzabad yesterday.Phillip was detained by police officers wearing riot gear, around midday, as participants took part in the annual Labour Day observance.
Commissioner of Police (CoP) Allister Guevarro shakes the hand of activist Alyssa Phillip as he speaks with her at Avocat junction Fyzabad at the beginning of the Labour Day march yesterday. Alyssa was arrested later yesterday while marching along the rout of the Labour Day march in Fyzabad. Photo : CURTIS CHASE
The circumstances surrounding her arrest were not immediately made clear by police.Phillip and her mother Camille Caresquero were surrounded by at least two dozen police officers before being taken away towards a vehicle.As Phillip was placed in the vehicle, those who witnessed the detention shouted “shameful”, “fragile egos”, and “this is great PR for the Police Service”.Phillip has led more than a dozen protests following the death of Samaroo and Sealy’s gunshot injuries after a January 20 incident with police in St Augustine after a chase.Sealy, who was receiving medical treatment abroad, returned to Trinidad to face charges related to Samaroo’s death.Phillip has been at the forefront of public demonstrations and vigils calling for justice and transparency in the matter. It is the second time she has been arrested.Phillip and Caresquero were arrested during a protest near the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) last month and were later granted reduced bail.The two appeared before Magistrate Indira Ramnarine Misir-Gosine in the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court earlier this month, where they pleaded not guilty to two charges arising out of the demonstration.The women were arrested during a protest along Richmond Street, Port of Spain, where demonstrators gathered near the DPP’s office to voice opposition to the decision to charge Sealy with manslaughter and firearms-related offences in connection with the death of her common-law husband Samaroo in St Augustine at the hands of police.Phillip, the protest organiser, and Caresquero are charged with behaving in a disorderly manner and with breaching section 11(A) of the Emergency Powers Regulations.Up to last night, Phillip had not been charged after the Labour Day march, the Express understands.Police said she complained of feeling unwell and was taken from the Fyzabad Police Station to the Siparia District Health Facility.Addressing the crowd at Charlie King Junction yesterday, general secretary of the National Trade Union Centre (NATUC) and president of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union, Michael Annisette, condemned the arrest of Phillip.He said, “Comrades, I am not normally shaken, but to physically witness what I saw today with this young lady who committed no crime whatsoever. The only crime that she has committed is not a crime, is that she stood up in defence of something she believed in. And if you cannot stand up for what you believe in in this society, then crapaud smoke your pipe.”He added, “What was ironic to me was that in 2026 someone who stood up for her right, is deemed to be a target of the police. There was no reason; she was doing nothing wrong, she was celebrating, like all workers, Labour Day.”Annisette said when he enquired from the police about her arrest, he was told “it was not my business, just move on.”“Today is a sad day for me, as a father, and citizen of T&T to realise that in 2026, we have a police force, who believes that we are still living in the colonial past and therefore they can disrespect a young lady,” he said. “I say to those police officers, ‘time longer than twine’.”Annisette urged Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the Government ministers who were at the Labour Day march to intervene and see about the release of Phillip.“Failure to do so will only concretise and confirm that it is the same playbook and different players. When we voted, we voted for change. The change must be substantial, material, worker-centred and people-centred. We cannot, honourable Prime Minister, live in a society where the police can do whatever they feel,” he said.He added that his daughter was pushed by members of the TTPS.“I saw the police unreasonably push my daughter aside. This is my last daughter, and almost 35 police, about two or three of them pushed her aside, then surrounded the young lady who was marching with me. That young lady fearlessly protested the shooting of the young man,” said Annisette.He noted that Labour Day has traditionally been a platform for workers and citizens to peacefully express their views and concerns.An attemptto ‘intimidate’Meanwhile, political leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), David Abdulah, questioned the basis for the police arrest of Phillip.“We need to know why she was arrested,” Abdulah said. “If this were a peaceful march, then there must be a clear explanation for her detention.”Abdulah said Phillip and her group were peaceful during the march.“This is a straight case of attempting to intimidate and harass Phillip because she is fearless. The police are scared of her for standing up for justice and speaking out for what she perceives to be wrong in this country,” said Abdulah.Labour Day observances continued following the incident.
