An unruly mob stormed Bay Street, protesting the sale of BTC to Cable & Wireless, forcefully removing barricades the police had set up to block the crowd from entering Parliament Square.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of protestors clashed with police in a heated demonstration against the sale of a majority stake in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC).<\/p>\n
The disorganised crowd was comprised of several different groups, including union members, political parties and citizen action groups.\u00a0 There were also many onlookers, who appeared to be downtown workers.<\/p>\n
A strong showing by PLP party members prompted allegations that the PLP paid people to attend the protest.<\/p>\n
Police estimate that the crowd may have reached over 800 people at its peak.<\/p>\n
One woman was apparently injured after police in riot gear used batons in an attempt to control the increasingly violent mob.<\/p>\n
A member of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officer’s Union (BCPOU) was arrested for allegedly attempting to assault Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest.<\/p>\n
Police officers formed a human chain to keep the mob away from the House of Assembly, where the doors were locked to prevent disruptions to Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham’s budget address.<\/p>\n
To their credit, several high-renking police officers bravely made their way into the crowd on a peace-keeping mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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