ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA, February 24- Former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell is facing intense backlash following remarks made at a New National Party (NNP) meeting in St. George on Sunday night, where he appeared to suggest a link between the 2023 murder of Jonty Robinson and Robinson’s public statements.

Dr. Mitchell, in carefully worded statements seemingly designed to avoid legal repercussions, insinuated that Robinson was murdered for speaking out.

“Jonty opened his mouth, and he died. All you remember that, and he died. I didn’t say who killed him. Don’t go and say I say anybody kill him,” Dr.Mitchell remarked.

“I simply say, the man say some of us who talking against the government should be dead. And I know Jonty, he was killed for talking. So, I don’t know. I don’t know “.

The comments have reignited tensions, with many interpreting them as an attempt to cast suspicion on the Dickon Mitchell-led administration.

Social media erupted in response, with some urging Robinson’s Mother to take legal action against the former opposition leader and others calling for a police investigation into his statements.

This is not the first time Dr. Mitchell has made incendiary remarks linking political discourse to murder.

In the lead-up to the NNP’s contentious leadership convention last December, he made similar statements about former Agriculture Minister Innocent Belmar, who was assassinated in 1978.

Dr. Mitchell previously warned against political violence, citing comments allegedly made by Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell.

“Innocent Belmar was killed for politics,” Dr. Mitchell had stated. “We executed a Prime Minister, and a lot of innocent people died. So when a Prime Minister would make a statement that his political opponent should not be alive, take warning.”

The murder of 24-year-old Jonty Robinson sent shockwaves through Grenada when his body was discovered on a beach in the south of the island on June 17, 2023.

While some of Robinson’s associates have speculated that he was targeted due to his lifestyle, police have stated that their investigations have found no link between his murder and his sexual orientation.

Javid Raymond, a 28-year-old unemployed man, was charged with Robinson’s murder.