Montano’s statement
Trinidad Guardian
Friday 4th May, 2007My name is Machel Montano. I am 32 years of age and I am an entertainer. This is my account of what transpired at Zen nightclub in Port-of-Spain in the early hours of Thursday, 26 April, 2007.
Earlier that night, that is to say on Wednesday, 25 April, 2007, I attended an appreciation function at Zen’s Rooftop. This was a function hosted by Xtatik Limited thanking all those who had taken part in the Madison Square Garden event, the 2007 album, the AC5 show and the HD bus.
This was a big year for us and those events have opened a lot of opportunities for my group and for soca as an international genre.
This was our chance to thank all the people who had helped and supported us and to let them see how we are trying to create a movement that would encourage cultural exchange and bring harmony to different peoples. The event was very successful.
My friend Marvin Fermin (he is also my personal assistant/driver) and I left the function probably around 10.30 pm. We usually go by Kernal Roberts (Katch) to pass time before heading out to lime.
This night was no different. The lime was me, Marvin; Kernal Roberts, drummer, musical director and songwriter; Joel Fevek (Zan), a singer who tours with me both as a solo artist and songwriter; Rodney le Blanc (Benjai), he and I write together on an almost daily basis; Jason Ragoo (Snoop), a sort of family relative/friend who, lives by Kernal; Tishard Barrington, a friend and sometimes writer; and Bill Moore.
We sat down by Kernal, by the piano and also the pool. We limed at Rainorama in Diego Martin until about 12.30 am on Thursday, 26 April, 2007.
The group of us mentioned above then went to Zen since we hoped to hook up with some foreign guys and girls who we met when we were leaving the appreciation function. They were going into Zen as we were heading out. Those persons (two guys and two girls) had indicated to me that they were foreign students doing an exchange programme at UWI on soca music and they had just completed a project about me.
When we arrived at Zen we headed straight to the centre bar in the general admission area. The VIP was closed that night. As anticipated, we met up with the foreign students who were from Michigan. They were the first people we got to hang out with. One of the girls name was Tricia.
The crowd in Zen that night was kind of small. I noticed that the front portion of the bar to the stage was kind of empty and I chose to hang around by that spot as my liming area that night since I felt safe and comfortable there.
My security detail which usually comprises three to four persons was not with me that night because I wanted to relax and mingle privately.
I was dancing with one of the foreign girls who we met and after a while I got tired of this and moved away. I went by the bar to be by myself.
While facing the bar, as I stood up, a girl came and grabbed me from behind. I had seen this girl earlier. She was a sort of dougla. Not fair, but not dark. She was kind of busty. I would describe her as thick and big bottomed. She and her group had been partying around us and I remember making eye contact with her.
This girl came behind me and started wining on me. I didn’t do anything. I just stood there because that is something that happens to me a lot. She finished wining on me and stepped close to me. She said in my ear “yuh know is me who was dancing with you just now.” I said yes and that was it. She went her way and I went off to talk to a couple friends.
Now from the time I came into the club there was this fella in a stripe shirt who kept coming by me and saying things. He kept pushing his head in my face and speaking in a garbled manner. This guy was short and of African descent. He appeared to be drunk.
I moved away. I kept constantly away from this guy but somehow it would happen that he would get close to me. I remember going and saying to Marvin “that guy there looking like he trying to cause trouble... let’s keep an eye on that.”
After chatting with friends and dancing with a couple of girls I just wanted to stand and relax for a little while. While doing that the same dougla girl and some other girls came back by me trying to wine on me again.
I had on a pair of long shoes and they were mashing my foot on occasions. I eventually asked them “Is there any way all you could shift a lil bit,” —because there was nowhere else I could retreat to since the bar was behind me.
They didn’t take me on but continued dancing around me. The dougla girl tried to throw her bottom on me. I moved away. This seemed to have irritated her because she asked me “wha happen?” I explained that it was not like that. It’s just that I was not feeling to dance with anybody at that moment, and that I was just taking a little moment for myself.
Just then a friend of mine, Maleka Gonzales, came up to me. She and I then started dancing together.
While Maleka and I were dancing, the dougla girl and the guy in the blue stripe shirt started dancing around us. I just feel wetness on me and then I see it on Maleka. Her pants were soaked and I was wet too. There was a glass on the floor and a lot of ice around me and Maleka.
I went to speak to the guy about throwing the drink and he lunged at me. I pushed him off and the Zen security came and took the guy away.
As security was taking the guy in the stripe shirt out of the club all the other people who was with him started to follow him out. In his crew I remember seeing the dougla girl among the group. There was also a tall girl, a fat girl, and a dark-skinned girl with glasses. They were all fretting and carrying on while heading out with the guy.
I stayed inside the club talking to Maleka. As far as I was aware everything had died down and settled down. Sometime after Kernal then came to me and said that there were people outside carrying on and cussing. He felt we should leave because they were causing a scene outside the club. We then left the club.
To my surprise, when we reached the staircase we encountered a group of about 15 people who started cursing and abusing us. The dark-skinned girl with glasses was carrying on about how she had spent $400 to go to my show and another $100 to come here. The fat girl was also cursing and making a lot of noise.
At some point someone pelted a side of shoe at me. One of the girls also spat at us. All I said is “why all ya doh go home because all ya didn’t see anything.” I was referring to the incident which took place in the club earlier.
Some guys who were with the girls (one of whom I now recognise from the newspapers reports to be Brandis Brown) were also hurling insults at us and saying things.
At one point, Snoop was facing me and he threw the contents of the cup that was in his hand up into the air (he did not throw the Styrofoam cup). I think that Brandis Brown is the fella who got wet from the drink. Brandis Brown said ‘nah!’ Then he and others grabbed Snoop and pulled him to one side.
At this point three or four members of Zen Security surrounded me. They carried me across the street and had me against a fence. I believe that they did this to protect me.
I don’t know what happened after at the entrance. At one point I remember seeing the girls approaching in my direction and the security holding them back. This made the girls more irate. Tishard and Marvin were there with me.
Tishard told the girls that they should go home. But they kept on cussing and carrying on. The security restrained one of the girls but she got away and spat at me. The spit landed on Tishard who was in front of me. Tishard raised his hand as if to hit the girl at which point the security let the girl go and tackled Tishard.
When security was holding Tishard I told them that “is she who spit on us... all ya not protecting us.” At this point, I looked across to my right and I saw a fella on the ground. I was in the middle of the street and the fella on the ground was more on the left side. He was about 15 to 20 feet away from me. I have no idea as to what actually happened to cause him to be on the ground.
Marvin said let’s go and I went with him. There were still a lot of people milling around in the area when we left. I went straight home from there. I was not involved in any fight outside of Zen.
I heard several and different versions of what happened in the media. I was scheduled to leave T&T on Friday morning (27 April) to go to Barbados to perform at the Brian Lara farewell (end of Cricket World Cup). I wanted to make sure that the police heard from me what had happened before leaving.
Although I was not approached by the police, I went to the Belmont Police Station about 7.00 pm on Thursday, 26 April.
I met police officers there. I sat down and waited for an hour. Then an officer (who I think was a Superintendent) asked me to bear with them because they had been at this all day.
I hadn’t eaten and was very tired due to lack of sleep. However, I sat and waited for about another hour. When they came back I asked if it was okay if I could leave now and return another day. The police said it was.
I have read the above statement and the contents stated in it are true and correct.
Signed
Date 3/05/07
