Civil Rights Activist From Virginia Killed in Turks and Caicos Shooting

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/us/turks-caicos-shooting-us-tourist-killed.html

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An American tourist who was a civil rights activist in Arlington, Va., was among three people who were killed in a string of possibly gang-related shootings in the Turks and Caicos Islands over the weekend, the authorities said.

At 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday “armed criminals” fired indiscriminately into a vehicle that was transporting tourists and employees to their hotel from an excursion, said Trevor Botting, the British territory’s police commissioner, at a news conference on Monday.

“As a result of this attack, two persons were murdered, one from the local business and the other being a tourist from the United States,” Commissioner Botting said. He said three other people, including another visitor to the islands, were also injured in the incident.

It was one of four shootings that also injured five people. Another man was believed to have been shot by police officers during gunfire, the commissioner said.

The authorities did not name the victims, but the American tourist was identified as Kent Carter, of Virginia, according to the N.A.A.C.P. in Arlington, Va., where Mr. Carter was the branch’s first vice president.

“Kent was an activist and philanthropist well known for his dedication to, and uplifting of, our community,’’ the N.A.A.C.P. said in a statement that offered condolences to his family.

Julius D. Spain Sr., the organization’s president in Arlington, said that Mr. Kent had been involved with the group for nearly 10 years and was that branch’s vice president for four years.

“He is what you would call a gentle giant, one who was very passionate about social justice and civil rights,” Mr. Spain said on Thursday.

The group added that “his civic work and volunteerism also extended throughout the broader Arlington community.”

Mr. Carter, a real estate agent, was vacationing in the Turks and Caicos Islands with his girlfriend and had arrived there on Saturday to celebrate his 40th birthday, Mr. Spain said. The British overseas territory is a popular tourist spot southeast of the Bahamas.

Commissioner Botting said in a statement earlier this week that he believed “the original attack was targeted and carried out by armed gang members who act without conscience, who have no regard for life and who are hell-bent on causing indiscriminate harm and misery across” the islands.

He added, “This violence is linked to drugs supply and is fueled by revenge, turf wars and retribution.”

A spokeswoman for the police force said the investigation is ongoing. A spokesman for the State Department said on Thursday that it offered “our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss. We are providing all appropriate consular assistance.”

More than 1 million people, including Americans, visited the territory in 2019, according to one report by the tourism board of Turks and Caicos.

The government of the islands said in a statement on Tuesday that the incident “is one that is rare and does not reflect who we are as a people.”

The government added that “we extend our sympathies to the family and friends of the victim.”