Jamaican Gangster: Claudie Massop | He Made Peace. Police Shot Him 40 Times.
The Griot | Stories Roots LegacyShow Notes
On a Sunday evening in February 1979, police stopped a taxi at the corner of Industrial Terrace and Marcus Garvey Drive in West Kingston. Three men died. One of them was Claudius "Claudie" Massop, the Tivoli Gardens strongman who, ten months earlier, had signed a peace treaty with his rival Bucky Marshall and helped bring Bob Marley home for the One Love Peace Concert.
The police said he jumped out and fired first. The driver said the men had their hands up. Doctors counted forty gunshot wounds. Four policemen were charged with murder, and in 1982 a jury acquitted them all.
This documentary follows the record — from Back-O-Wall and Tivoli, through the 1976 state of emergency and a shared jail cell, to the treaty, London, the concert, and the two accounts of his last minutes.
Allegations against Claudie Massop were never tested in court; he was never convicted of the murders he was charged with. The police officers charged over his death were acquitted. Scenes are reconstructions made for this film, not archival footage.
Chapters 0:00 The roadblock 1:49 Denham Town and Tivoli 3:34 The record 5:54 Borders and the emergency 7:24 The cell and the treaty 9:16 Bringing Bob Marley home 11:08 One Love 12:39 The cracks 14:10 Two stories 16:34 The funeral and the trial 17:44 What came after 19:03 Who was Claudie Massop?
Sources Jamaica Observer (Karyl Walker 2007; Sybil Hibbert 2013; 2008; 2013; 2018); The Gleaner (2005, 2008, 2015, 2021 — Imani Tafari-Ama); Bob Marley: Legend collection (Google Arts & Culture); Caribbean Beat; Andscape.
Watch next: Jamaican Don of All Dons: Jim Brown.
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