Liberia: ALCOP Condemns “Shameful” Police Inaction During Red Light Violence, Demands Arrest of Attackers

Monrovia – The All Liberia Coalition Party (ALCOP) has sharply condemned what it describes as “brutal and unwarranted” attacks against peaceful citizens during Thursday’s violent unrest in Paynesville’s Red Light area, calling the Liberia National Police’s response a “shameful display of weakness and indifference.”

In a press statement issued on Thursday, November 13, ALCOP said the violence, which stemmed from a land dispute between two families, was broadcast live on national television and showed civilians being assaulted in the presence of police officers.

The party said the police’s failure to intervene or protect the victims “demonstrates an apparent weakness or reluctance” to carry out their constitutional duties. It warned that such inaction risks legitimizing mob violence and could amount to enabling attacks driven by “cultural or ethnic bias.”

While acknowledging that no citizen should resist a lawful court order, ALCOP stressed that the enforcement of such orders “should be done solely by the police.” Allowing civilians to interfere, the party argues, suggests the police “granted a license and lent credence to mob violence against a peaceful people.”

According to the statement, ALCOP Political Leader Alhaji Lusinee F. Kamara, Sr. has already met with senior officials at the Executive Mansion to discuss the incident. The party urged its supporters and the public to remain calm while awaiting the outcome of those engagements.

In the meantime, ALCOP called on the Liberia National Police to “arrest, detain, and prosecute” all individuals involved in the televised flogging of citizens, including an imam who was reportedly assaulted. The party warned that failure to take action would set “an ugly precedent,” allowing mobs to infiltrate police operations and “inflict excruciating pain on their victims under the watchful eyes” of law enforcement.

The statement, issued through the office of Musa Kenneh, the Press and Propaganda Chairman, quotes ALCOP as saying it remains “deeply appalled” by what it termed the police’s complacency and reiterated its demand for accountability to prevent future acts of mob justice.