[13] The Golding Administration refused to sign the extradition request on the claimed basis that the evidence was obtained contrary to Jamaican laws.
[14] A US Justice Department filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) showed that Manatt, Phelps & Phillips had secured a contract worth US $400,000 to represent the Jamaican government in the treaty dispute.
This continued for several days as the security forces prepared to enter Tivoli Gardens to serve Coke with the warrant for his arrest.
[29] He has been likened to Robin Hood because he has helped the community by handing out food, sending children to school and building medical centres.
[30] On the night of 24/25 May 2010, the Jamaican government declared a state of emergency in the capital Kingston and in the parish of St Andrew to last for one month[31] while gunmen were pursued by the security services.
Molotov cocktail "factories" as well as storage dumps for ammunition were created in various sections of the community to provide quick supply to the gunmen besieging Tivoli.
Electrified barbed wires were used to block the main entrance to the community along with old burnt out cars and sharp metal scraps and cement.
Recon operations by JDF helicopters showed well-organized roadblocks made of sandbags, each with three to four men armed with AK-47s and Molotov cocktails.
A surveillance aircraft was seen flying over Kingston on 24 May, bearing identifying marks that belonged to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
[5] Lack of food, running water and a surplus of visible bodily waste were reportedly problems faced by many,[5] while dozens of children and toddlers were lost in Rasta City with one wounded woman losing her 18-month-old son on the way to hospital.
[5] Prime Minister Golding said: "The government deeply regrets the loss of lives, especially those of members of the security forces and innocent, law-abiding citizens caught in the crossfire.
[44] However, independent observers, such as Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair and Public Defender Earl Witter, who visited the community expressed satisfaction with conditions.
Speaking further on the operation, the head of communications of the Jamaica Defence Force, Colonel Rocky Meade said of Coke's militia "They were very well-organized, they knew what they were doing.
[43][47] The security forces also discovered a closed circuit television system inside Coke's Presidential Click office, which monitored all the entrances into Tivoli Gardens.
[47] Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Charles Scarlett rejected claims that the detainees had been abused and denied basic amenities such as toilets.
He said that several interest groups, including the Red Cross, had been allowed to visit the detention centers and expressed satisfaction with the measures that were in place to deal with the persons detained.
[48] Meanwhile, an explosives expert, supported by other former members of the JCF and JDF (who had been dismissed for varying reasons) and thugs loyal to Coke, was suspected of masterminding the elaborate defensive systems established around Tivoli Gardens prior the events of 23 May.
Supplementing these booby traps and explosives was an army of thugs estimated to be over 400 strong and arriving from as far away as Montego Bay, Claredon, St. Catherine and St. Thomas.
Road blocks consisting of old cars, scrap metal, crates, pallets, sandbags, barrels and discarded household items also formed a part of the defensive systems.
The high-rise buildings in the neighbourhood were also prepared as lookout points and signalling centres, with truck tyres placed there, intended to be lit to create smokescreens against possible helicopter assaults.
[49][50][51] The opposition leader, Portia Simpson-Miller, led the debate in Parliament outlining the arguments for Golding's removal from office and moving that he be censured.
The debate lasted for four hours on 1 June 2010, and at the end the motion was defeated 30–28, with members of the House of Representatives voting strictly on party lines.
[52] In explaining the difficulties faced in recovering illegal weapons in the area, Commissioner Ellington noted that many of the thugs who were shooting at members of the security forces were themselves hit from distances of over 300 yards.
Coke was then taken to Norman Manley International Airport by a military helicopter, transferred to a US aircraft, and flown to New York, where he was taken into custody by DEA agents.
[57] In 2011, Coke pleaded guilty to racketeering and drug-related charges in a New York Federal court, and was sentenced to 23 years in prison on 8 June 2012.
Thomas also developed an installation commemorating the unrest entitled ''Bearing Witness: Four Days in West Kingston'' Archived 27 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine at the Penn Museum.