Former Minister, Simona Broomes, Charged, Body Guard Locked Up

4th of August, 2020. Georgetown, Guyana, South America.

Former government Minister, Simona Broomes, has yesterday, 4th of August, been charged with assault while her “bodyguard,” Dexter Austin, was charged with recklessly discharging a firearm following an incident which occurred on the 3rd of August, 2020. Broomes served as a Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection under the previous APNU/AFC government which lost the March, 2, 2020 elections.

On the 3rd of August, 2020, Ms. Broomes was seen on a Facebook Live Video trailing a white civilian car while shouting in an irate manner. In the video, Broomes was heard saying that two men came to her home and removed several signboards from the front of the house and also threatened to kill her.

Ms. Broomes and her bodyguard trailed the car to a location in Sofia Village, Region 4, Guyana, South America where two men exited a car and walked across a bridge. Broomes and her partner then exited their vehicle, and, shouting to the men, ran in pursuit while shouting threatening language.

The men continued walking while ignoring the calls from behind until Ms. Broomes and her bodyguard caught up with them and started to hurl accusations into their faces. At that point in the video, Broomes and her bodyguard were seen acting in a violent way towards the men and Dexter Austin could be observed discharging several rounds.

During the altercation, Broomes and her bodyguard were also able to rally support from bystanders in apprehending and dealing blows to one or both of the men. The video did not show how the story ended nor how it had begun.

The next day, Broomes and her bodyguard were reportedly arrested and charged. Broomes was released on bail while the bodyguard was kept in police custody. The firearm was also retrieved from the bodyguard on the grounds that he was not authorized to possess or use it.

Below is the video of Ms. Simona Broomes going live during the incident.

Below is another video shot by another bystander during the same incident.