FBI agents assisting with investigations
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE US Supreme Court Justice, who was robbed last week by a masked man armed with a machete, has made headlines on a number of international media houses including BBC, CNN and Bloomberg, and FBI agents are on Nevis assisting local police with their investigations.
The 73-year-old Justice Stephen Breyer was at the time with his wife and two guests in their vacation home at Golden Rock in Nevis.
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police Robert Liburd, the Officer-in-Charge of the Nevis Division of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, at about 10:20 p.m. on Thursday (Feb 9), a man armed with a black machete and wearing a black shirt, black pants, black shoes and black mask entered the home and demanded money from the judge.
ACP Liburd also said that on receipt of the money, the bandit immediately fled the scene and that no one was injured during the robbery. But he neither disclosed the victim’s identity nor his country of origin, as well as how much how much money the bandit took from him.
Information on them was however disclosed by all the international media houses.
An article written by CNN Court Producer Bill Mears and headlined “Supreme Court Justice Breyer robbed at knifepoint during Caribbean vacation” states that “the male assailant took $1,000 in cash and fled the scene, according to court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg”.
The article also states that it was unclear whether the intruder knew Breyer’s professional identity.
It further states the US Marshals Service provides protection for members of the high court when they are traveling, and agency spokesman Jeff Carter said today (Feb. 13) that the marshals service “is aware of the incident involving Justice Breyer on the Caribbean island of Nevis and is assisting the Supreme Court Police and local law enforcement authorities with the investigation as needed”.
The article notes that Justice Breyer had no comment on the matter, and the court would not say if he had returned to the United States.
“The high court is in recess this week, but the justices have scheduled a closed-door meeting Friday to go over pending court business, and they resume public sessions next week,” it added.
Justice Breyer was nominated to the high court in 1994 and is known as one of the most active and engaging members of that court, while his wife, Dr. Joanna Breyer, is a renowned pediatric psychologist.
The article also states that attacks on members of the federal judiciary are not new, and following attacks on then-Justice David Souter in Washington and Justice Byron White in Utah, US Marshals have since then been protecting US members of the court when they travel.
