ATTORNEYS for a family of four who took part in Sunday’s “Push Back” event at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, have signalled an intention to take legal action against the State over the police's tear-gassing of the crowd.

The family was allegedly tear-gassed when riot police fired it as a crowd-control measure to disperse more than 300 people when the event became unruly.

They were protestingagainst the government’s handling of the covid19 pandemic and vaccine policy,

“They were participating in a peaceful ‘pray and reflect’ event,” said a letter written by Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally.

The letter was addressed to acting Commissioner of Police McDonald Jacob, who has been asked to justify the police decision to use tear gas on the crowd.

Also representing Javed Daniel, his wife Judine Bonaparte and their two children, four and five, are attorneys Prakash Ramadhar, Kiel Taklalsingh, Stefan Ramkissoon and Rhea Khan.

Rambally described the use of tear gas as “unjustified, excessive and indiscriminate,” and called on the acting commissioner to provide, in 28 days, a copy of the policy regulating the use of tear gas by the police service and the reason for using it on January 16.

Rambally also asked for any contemporaneous note and/or record cataloguing the use of and justification for deploying tear gas at the event and the identity of the police officer who authorised its use.

He told Jacob if there was no response to the requests, a civil claim for trespass and assault and battery will be filed in the High Court.

Rambally said more disturbing than the use of the tear gas was that there were no medical personnel or equipment present at the time the police decided to use it.

“The use of tear gas on our clients, in the manner aforementioned, constitutes prima facie tortious assault and battery upon our clients. The continued threat of tear gas being used by the police in the context of my clients’ presence at the Queen’s Park Savannah while they were merely engaging in reverent prayer and reflection, raises a myriad of constitutional concerns for which our client intends to take advice.”

He also said they intend to write the Attorney General.

Rambally’s letter said the family, like all citizens, enjoyed the right of freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of movement.

He also said from their observations, those who were at the Savannah on Sunday were “not involved in any illegal, hostile or disruptive activities.”

“There was no destruction of public property, acts of violence or unruly behaviour that could justify either police intervention or the deployment of forceful crowd suppression tactics.

“At no point in time were our clients warned or told by police officers that they were engaged in illegal activity or that their conduct constituted a threat to public order or was infringing any law, regulation or policy,” he added.

Rambally’s letter said “without prior notice, rhyme or reason” the police began to “indiscriminately” fire canisters of tear gas at t