Home Affairs Minister Willing to Meet with Families of Slain SP Residents

On Monday, an official statement was issued by the Cordova and Rodriguez families who laid their loved ones to rest over the weekend. Three-year-old Amari Rodriguez, her father Delmar Rodriguez, and Carlos Chi were murdered and four others injured in a callous attack in the island town of San Pedro. In the statement, the families say that they remain uninformed about the investigation, but were able to get information on their own about the accused killers, their affiliates, accessibility to illegal firearms and rogue police officers. The families allege that the police department had knowledge of the threat against Delmar and took no steps to ensure his safety. The families then go on to make a public plea to those who wish to retaliate to put down the guns and allow the justice system to take its course. And while the families, community and the country want and demand justice, the families want an urgent meeting with Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa and his C.E.O. to share their concerns about the senseless killing and how the investigation is being handled. Here’s how Minister Musa responded to the request.

Kareem Musa

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“I don’t see it as a demand; this is not a hostage situation by any means. I believe that the police department is quite on top of the ball when it comes to this particular investigation. We have gathered evidence, individuals have been charged; but in relation to their information that they want to share, I by all means would want to meet with them to hear out their concerns. So I don’t perceive it as a demand, but rather a request for us to have a sit-down to discuss a situation which has plagued San Pedro for quite some time. Like I’ve said before, it’s been decades of this type of culture, this type of drug dealing that happens in San Pedro. And so it is something that we have to address and if it means me sitting down with them to hear them out, absolutely I will do that.”