Protesters Demand Release of Vlogger and Photographer after Drone Incident

A crowd of peaceful protesters gathered at Police Headquarters to demand the immediate release of Lynworth Mitchell and Jawanza Stuart after a drone incident at the Morne Daniel residence of PM Roosevelt Skerrit. Mitchell – a vlogger, and Stuart – a videographer/photographer, were arrested on Wednesday in relation to a aerial drone which was flown over the prime minister’s residence.

According to the PPRO, Inspector John Carbon, police security details stationed at the prime minister’s residence saw a drone flying over the property around 5 pm on Wednesday evening but later lost sight of the machine when it fell at the PM’s farm which is adjacent to his residence.

Carbon said police officers recovered the drone at around 5:15 pm but arrested Mitchell and Stuart when the two men disembarked from a moving Mitsubishi pickup to enquire about the missing drone. The police PPRO said the two men were taken to the police headquarter on Wednesday evening where they were detained overnight till Thursday.

He said the men were detained to help them with investigations into the flying machine over the prime minister’s house.  Given the rumour that a Chinese citizen allegedly intercepted the drone before handing it over to the police, Carbon said this is not true and that the drone fell by itself before being recovered by police.

However, a crowd of people gathered at the police headquarters to demand for the release of the two men, contending that it is not an offence to fly a drone in the country or even near the prime minister’s property. In the meantime, Attorney Joshua Francis has taken up Mitchell’s case and attorney Singoalla Blomquist Williams will be representing Stuart.

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