KINGSTON, Jamaica— Government Senator Abka Fitz-Henley says Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) should be careful that its comments do not appear to support criminality after the rights group took issue with Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s declaration that the killers responsible for Sunday’s “act of terrorism” in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon, must either “meet a judge or meet their maker”.

“I encourage Jamaicans For Justice to be careful about the message it is sending to perpetrators of violent crime. Now is a time when the Jamaican society is looking for unity and support for strong action to be taken against criminals who are preying upon communities and terrorising law-abiding citizens,” Fitz-Henley told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday after a news conference at Jamaica House at which Holness announced a number of security measures in response to the massacre.

The attack carried out by men armed with high-powered rifles at 8:45 pm Sunday disrupted birthday celebrations being held by a 31-year-old bar owner for her boyfriend, a 23-year-old mechanic from the area. After the shooting ended, it was discovered that eight individuals had been killed and nine others injured. Amongst the casualties lay a seven-year-old boy, while a baby of one year and eight months was injured.

READ: 7-y-o among eight dead in Clarendon killing spree

The prime minister, at an emergency press briefing at Jamaica House on Monday morning, after a meeting of the National Security Council, declared a “total assault on gangs” across the island and pledged that the “Government will use this opportunity to deal with the gangs once and for all”.

Declaring that Jamaica has “played with gangs for far too long”, Holness said, “We will not treat this as another criminal act; we will treat this as an act of terror. Therefore, we have given directions to the security forces to launch an all-out assault on the gangs that are involved.”

The prime minister, in one of several posts to his social media account on Monday, said he was ensuring that “all the resources necessary from the State — whether financing, international cooperation, legislative support — will be made available to the security forces to pursue this relentlessly. They must either meet the judge or meet their maker, whichever they choose”.

However, on Tuesday JFJ Executive Director Mickel Jackson said that the prime minister’s statement amounts to “State badmanness” and could serve as encouragement for vigilante killings by incensed citizens.

Instead, she said the prime minister “must focus on solutions that promote safety without compromising the integrity of our justice system”.

In response, Senator Fitz-Henley said it is unfortunate that JFJ is now perceived by some people as an organisation which has evolved into one which provides comfort for rogue elements and is supportive of criminals.

“I believe it’s a no-brainer that people who are willing to pump bullets — using M16 weapons — into men, women and minors; a one-year-old was shot, an eight-year-old was gunned down, they will not hesitate to take on the security forces when they are engaged, and therefore the comment by the prime minister was quite in order that individuals who carried out the act of savagery should either be taken before a judge or meet their maker,” Fitz-Henley said.

“I encourage JFJ to be careful that… the messages that it is conveying in the public domain appear supportive of criminality,” he argued.