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There is a local video making the rounds that has me quite disturbed. The video appears to have been shot on Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook in the wee hours of morning on Sunday March 29. (Click HERE to view video).
It starts with an irate female violently venting her frustrations on the bonnet and headlights of a black Toyota HiLux pick-up truck, in full view of onlookers on either side of the roadway. I must warn you, up front, that the video does contain some coarse language.
Based on the running commentary provided by onlookers, it appears that the young lady had just caught her boyfriend in flagrante delicto with the outside woman, made a public ruckus and was preventing him and the outside woman from fleeing the scene in his vehicle.
As you can see, the jilted lover went to town on the vehicle. She ripped off the windshield wiper and then the front number plate and used them to scrape, scratch and smash the van before it could be driven away.
Further on in, you see that the attack on the vehicle escalated as the woman used bottles to smash against and throw at the van.
A deserved outcome for a ‘horn’, right? Guy got caught and received his immediate comeuppance, right?
My concern is with how that situation escalated during the course of the video. I saw one brave soul actively tried to stop the destruction (0:57) and calm the scene down. Unfortunately, the peacemaker was physically discouraged by another onlooker—who appeared to be a friend of the assailant—from intervening. Throughout the saga, the majority of the crowd goaded the woman into continuing her attack—or ‘chained her up’ as we say—and verbally fuelling her rage.
And of course, a plethora of smartphones were seen held aloft recording the incident.
What I cannot fathom is why some of the crowd members deliberately inserted themselves into the story. After the woman derived maximum use from the number plate, which she transformed to a club, a nearby female videographer offered her an empty beer bottle to use as a weapon (3:11).
Gleefully accepted, she chucked the bottle at the windscreen. More bottles, willingly volunteered by other crowd members, soon followed. Some just struck the vehicle while others smashed on impact.
The hapless driver’s escape bid continued to be hindered as the woman refused to remove herself from the vehicle’s path.
While infidelity is an everyday phenomenon, scenes such as these are, thankfully, not as commonplace. And it is frightening that, in addition to urging the woman to “mash it up”, the crowd—which had no stake in the dispute save for the raw entertainment value—offered her missiles to hurl at the van. This is the development that disturbs me most; the manifestation of mob mentality.
The woman did not seek out bottles to further her onslaught; the crowd spontaneously provided them to her. I shudder to think what would have happened if she had somehow managed to completely smash through the windshield, exposing the driver and the alleged outside woman.
Would the supply of bottles have ceased then?
That for me is the true tragedy of this situation. The public and open display of violence, as eye-catching and entertaining as it was, embarrassed all three main players in the scenario—the woman, the man and the purported outside fling.
However, the crowd’s unbidden eagerness to ensure that the scene perpetuated and intensified through their active participation brought shame directly to themselves as well.
Editor’s note: Click HERE to read more blogs from Damian Scott. Or HERE to see the Ariapita incident.
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Damian R. Scott is an ICT professional and a lifelong student (and part-time teacher) of language and communication. As Scotty Ranking, he frequently comments on topical issues of the day, dispensing knowledge to all and sundry.
To coin Sheila Rampersad it’s “our own ugly”. We have the society we have created and continue to create.
Nah. I wouldn’t get out because I might have been provoked beyond my self control. But my van would have been moving slowly forward from the moment she took off my license plate! Lol
I would not go out to a main zone where I could have been easily seen by so many. So would not be in such a position Lol
Lasana..Had it been you, would you have exited that van??
Surely not
I believe that the person who was behind the wheel didn’t want anyone to videotape him as he wanted to remain incognito for as long as possible probably to his job or to keep his good name intact Lol. The woman knew if she jumped out licks wudda pass……..
D man get he diary mixed up yes…according to uncle Earl, them real good yes
I’m stunned that no one came out of the van to “have a word” if that was the case. The woman surely felt wronged about something… Saturday nights are supposed to be hers?
Lol! Maybe she din know eh Lasana! This whole situation typifies what T&T has become….lol
That’s what a caller to the program told Alexander..she said she was there and seemed to know the story and the players [no pun intended] quite well
Lasana, methinks the man is ah ossifer, based in Central….lol
Eh?! I want to believe no eh Mel Lissa. I want to believe that was the “police intelligence” we keep hearing about that came up with that.
That’s nuts.
Lasana according to reports on Beyond the Tape; the one venting her frustration is the outside woman.The “main lady” is the one in the vehicle
I will try to remember that Sav! 🙂
Lasana, I does only look quiet eh
Boy, Lasana, I din have to…my presence was enough to lose your appetite….;), but no, I wouldn’t….lol
You would have bought a rounds Savitri? 🙂
I mussee grow up differently then….If was me, I woulda followed him to where ever they’re going and joined them….and embarrassed him with words not violence….there are so many subtle ways to get your message across
Disgusting! These people actually dressed and left their homes to go out and behave like that? Shameful.
I saw this and it was troubling. These women and men were edging heron to damage thee truck. They didn’t seem to be concern about her behavior and the one man who attempted to pull her off the truck her friend went after. My fear was that he’d run her over
Can any of the legal minds tell us if this would be applicable to the madness which happened that faithful night on the Ave. Any persons, riotously or tumultuously assembled together, who unlawfully and with force injure or damage any property as is
specified in section 13 is liable to imprisonment for five years.
I’ve seen it both at home and among Trinidadians abroad.
Man, on AH Saturday night in Toronto for caribana, as soon as 230 come, police on horses patrolling the club district. And people dare not get outta line
Is not like the area isn’t a known limers strip.
I agree with that 100 percent.
Vernal, not even in the villages people behaved like this….women were more circumspect…they would hatch a nice plot…but not behave like this in public
Nah Savitri, this type of behavior existed long before cell phones.
Vernal, yuh know how many insecure people we have just looking for acceptance…we see it right here sometimes. These are not friends….they’re all exhibitionists…too much selfies
Naaa man I Doh agree…I see what u saying though, but society needs to be held accountable. If TTPS was there I’m sure all this wouldn’t be going on
Not just from her friend, she should solicit donations from those who contributed bottles to her attack.
It is truly sad seeing what was on the video. People acting like 10 year olds urging this lady on to do damage. Sickening people..
The girl and her friend!
I agree. When the guy tried to stop her from her attack on the van, her BFF bodily prevented him from intervening. While the jilted woman may have been seeking some catharsis, her BFF ensured that the scene became a public pappyshow.
“Rum till dey die.” Level foolishness. Where is 5-0 when you need them?
So we point the finger at….?
Don’t know if the location made that much different. I see it as an angry woman, an unhelpful friend and a tipsy crowd.
Long time the ole folks is tuh say “Frens does kerry yuh, buh dey boh bring yuh back.”
Nowadays dey does kerry yuh on d Ave and put yuh tuh stand up in front ah Hilux!
Trinidad, a failed state. Who is going to step up?
No one, I’m afraid. We’re cowards.
Composure is often undervalued. And her friend seemed to think that was a great idea. Hope her friend helps her pay off the damage.
I would change friends if I was her.
Anyone remembers when Trinidad was viewed as among the most advanced societies in the Caribbean?
It turned unfunny after 30 secs. This is why every so often we must do a cleanout in our own lives, toxic people, toxic situations.
Yuh would think that these people would like to party safely, but I guess is just another outing for most who Doh get any action in the town
Not when people like Kes gettin robbed there too hoss?
A bit excessive there Ravi? Lol
Shut down the avenue until people start to take and be held responsible for their actions!!!
Again, it’s proven, when you blindly follow the urging of the mass, the m is usually silent!
This was embarrassing to say the least, and could have ended in disaster
That crowd had no shame…I wonder if they feel ashamed now….
‘Cackling hens’..shameful..Trini women generally no longer respect themselves or each other but would expect our men, children and politicians to do so..smh
And there it is. Where do the politicians come from? Not from under a rock, but from us. So we shouldn’t be criticizing them when they do crap…
I agree Jarrod Ricardo B.. they are a reflection of our greater society..sad but true
There is another video that is about twice as long as this one, starting even before this one did. There was another peacemaker who tried to stop the irate woman even before the loss of the windshield wiper.
The ending showed that even after the vehicle drove away, the crowd followed it. Filming continued while some of them ran alongside and continued to supply the woman with more bottles! It wasn’t that she had come with a posse and carried on; the crowd aided and abetted her behavior! That’s a mob! And it was awful to see …
the display was gross and the behavior of the crowd was digusting, hope that after she calmed down would say what an ass i made of my self.
This is not the only example of mob mentality in T&T. I saw it much earlier in time and it was quite scary to witness. Perhaps alcohol had some role to play in the behaviour of the crowd this time and also the woman though this does not excuse them, nor does the fact that the man was probably in the wrong for “horning” this woman. It’s not pretty to watch and I have no idea why anyone would want this sent to them, because it’s not entertaining to see a woman debase herself for a man. She should just write him off and consider herself blessed to have found out at all. I hope for her sake, she has no children with him nor has she contracted any communicable diseases from him.
Back to the issue of mobs in T&T though, it’s clear (sorry to make it political) there are two major mobs, the mob of those who blindly support the current administration and the mob of those who give blind support also to the PNM. Sad to say, the rest of the population who are capable of thinking for themselves are often branded with the mob they seem to be supporting at any given time. It appears that most of us have lost the capacity to reason or choose not to use it very much. In the case of the victim and the vehicle (yes she was a victim, though also an offender) the mob behaved as mobs do, without reason. Yet, was there no one in the vicinity who could call on authorities to break up the scene? What about the club right on the Avenue that is famous for being frequented by officers of the Army? Surely there were a few good men/women of the uniform who could have intervened, had they been called upon to do so? Are we becoming so much like the US that we do not think to intervene in private affairs to stop violence? That to me, is the scariest part. Sure, we will always have mobs, but we seem to have less and less of actual persons willing to be the change that we need.