Police said yesterday they had no one in custody in relation to death threats made against Prime Minister Philip Davis that were called into his office on Friday afternoon.
At a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) on Friday, Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander said two anonymous calls were made shortly after noon by callers believed to be male. (It is unclear whether the same individual made both calls.)
While Fernander did not say that he believed the caller or callers were connected to the Coalition of Independents (COI), which led a protest outside the House of Assembly against illegal immigration on Wednesday, he started the press conference by pointing to a clip on social media, purportedly from the protest, in which a protester called for the assassination of the prime minister.
Speaking about the protester shouting that the prime minister should be assassinated, Fernander said, “Acts like this will only take the temperature to another level.”
He said a “full-scale investigation” was underway into who made the phone calls.
“We are following some significant leads with respect to those,” Fernander said.
“Both calls came in one right after the other, about 15 minutes apart, threatening to kill the nation’s leader.
“We as Bahamians, it shouldn’t happen. When you’re talking about threatening the nation’s leader, we as Bahamians, how we got to this level in threatening individuals?”
He said no one’s life should be threatened and assured police are taking the threats “very seriously”.
“It’s a big concern,” the commissioner said. “You saw it play out in Haiti where the president was assassinated. You saw that in recent times and, you know, we Bahamians are like copycats. God forbid. We need now to stop it.”
Fernander said the necessary security measures were being improved around the prime minister, and added that there will be heightened security for CARICOM leaders expected in Nassau for the 44th Regular Meeting of CARICOM heads of government set for February 15-17.
Davis is currently chairman of CARICOM.
Fernander told reporters he spoke with the prime minister shortly before the press conference and Davis was “in good spirits”.
“He’s not scared, but we have to ensure that he is safe,” the commissioner said.
“We cannot dilute security. And we will ensure that not only the prime minister, but we have to ensure that the staff here are safe and by extension the Bahamian people.”
Fernander said police were also investigating the threats against the prime minister’s life made at the protest.
It is not clear which protester made the threat during the demonstration.
Fernander told reporters that COI Leader Lincoln Bain received a permit from police for a “peaceful protest”.
The commissioner also said, “At some point, I will invite him to my office to have a word with him because he [has] to control his supporters”.
Asked yesterday whether there were any updates on the death threat probe, a police spokesperson said, “Not as yet, presently making inquiries.”
