IRISH COUPLE IN CARIBBEAN RACISM STORM
AN Irish couple has become embroiled in a massive Black Lives Matter controversy after allegedly beating a black man who ran over their dog.
Donal Kavanagh, from Terenure, Dublin, and his wife, Sarah Hatton, from Dún Laoghaire, have been charged with ‘causing harm’ to a driver named Evan Smith on the Caribbean island of Grenada.
The Kavanaghs allegedly hit Smith, who ran over and killed their four-year-old dog, Herbie, in an upscale neighbourhood in the Grenadian capital, St George.
Mr Kavanagh told the Irish Daily Mail that he grabbed the keys from Mr Smith’s van to stop him leaving and his wife lightly pushed Mr Smith when he came towards her.
Both strongly deny any wrongdoing and say they have been caught up in international Black Lives Matter anger and agitation.
Both sides agree that Mr Smith ran over the dog and continued a short distance to a construction site to drop off workers before being confronted by the Kavanaghs.
The case has ignited racial tensions in the country and the Kavanaghs have been the subject of an angry street protest, in which hundreds of people gathered outside their home chanting ‘No Justice, No Peace’ and carrying signs reading ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Not In My Grenada’.
The case has caused ‘uproar’ according to a Grenadian newspaper, New Today, and has led to hundreds of comments online, both for and against the Kavanaghs.
One columnist was sharply criticised in Facebook comments after claiming that Mr Smith was Grenada’s George Floyd – the black man whose death during an arrest in Minnesota has led to anti-racist protests around the world.
‘We were in the wrong place at the wrong time, when there is so much going on about racial issues in America and Europe,’ Mr Kavanagh told the Mail.
He said he and his family have lived in Grenada for six years after moving there from Meath and always had an excellent relationship with the country’s black majority.
He also said their two teenage sons had to barricade themselves in a bedroom while the protest was going on outside and could hear ‘vile’ racist abuse from some of the protesters outside their home.
‘Sarah and I were down at the police station at the time being charged so all my sons knew was that Mammy and Daddy were not there and they were afraid,’ he said. Mr Smith’s wife, Nicole, led the protest march, on June 27, the day after the alleged assault.
The protest went from the upscale Fort Jeudy neighbourhood where the Kavanaghs live, to St George’s Central Police Station.
Two witnesses, who are also black, said that the Kavanaghs did not assault Mr Smith, except for a brief shove by Sarah Hatton Kavanagh to stop him leaving his van.
Leslie Prime, a foreman, and Jehron Felix, construction worker were both interviewed by the news site, Now Grenada, in which they said that they saw the entire confrontation and that the Kavanaghs did nothing wrong.
They said that they saw a woman loudly shouting at the Kavanaghs and Mr Felix said that she came between the two parties because the woman was shouting so much abuse at them.
Mr Kavanagh, who owns a company in St George selling lifeboats and other sea safety equipment, told the Mail that he broke down in tears after Mr Felix spoke to the news reporter, knowing that Mr Felix was willing to support him, despite the negative consequences in his community.
Mr Kavanagh also said that he and his wife had been deeply moved by the hundreds of messages of support they have received from black Grenadians who knew them or supported them.
In the video statement released to the news site, Now Grenada, on Thursday night, Mr Kavanagh agrees that he grabbed the key from the van driven by Mr Smith as an ‘emotional response’ after telling him not to leave the scene of the accident.
‘I personally acknowledge removal of the vehicle key as an emotional response in ensuring that Mr Smith remained on the scene until the police arrived as verbal appeals to that point had no effect. The allegations that we have coerced witnesses deeply saddens us. Nothing could be further from the truth,’ he says.
His wife, Sarah, said: ‘We remain committed to this process with no malicious intent towards the Smiths then or now.’
The case blew up when Ms Smith went public, telling the media that her husband was beaten and alleging that the police refused to act.
The Kavanaghs are due to make their first court appearance on July 28.
Derick Sylvester, an attorney for Evan Smith, has also filed a lawsuit against the pair.
Case has ignited racial tensions ‘No malicious intent towards Smiths’