The 1976 Assassination Attempt That Nearly Took The Life Of Bob Marley And Wife Rita

At 8:30pm, on December 3, 1976, two days before the Smile Jamaica Concert, seven men armed with guns raided Marley’s house at 56 Hope Road.

Marley and his band were on break from rehearsal. Marley’s wife, Rita, was shot in the head in her car in the driveway. The gunmen shot Marley in the chest and arm. His manager, Don Taylor, was shot in the legs. Band employee, Louis Griffiths took a bullet to his torso as well. Astonishingly, there were no fatalities.

Bob Marley told concert chairman Trevor Philips that the leader of the Jamaican Labour Party Edward Seaga – Manley’s only opponent – was alleged to have ordered his bodyguard, Lester “Jim Brown” Coke, to be present during the shooting.

After the shooting, numerous reports indicated that the gunmen returned to Tivoli Gardens, a neighbourhood loyal to the JLP and home to the notorious Shower Posse.

After the shooting, the American embassy sent a cable titled “Reggae Star Shot: Motive probably political”. In the cable, Ambassador Gerard wrote:

“Some see the incident as an attempt by JLP gunmen to halt the concert, which would feature the “politically progressive” music of Marley and other reggae stars.

“Others see it as a deep-laid plot to create a progressive, youthful Jamaican martyr to the benefit of the PNP. Those holding the latter view note that the four persons shot, three of them including Marley, only suffered minor wounds.”

Timothy White, the author of Catch a Fire, claimed that information he received from JLP and PNP officials as well as US law enforcement officials led him to believe that Carl Byah “Mitchell”, a JLP gunman, was contracted by the CIA to organize the Marley shooting and that Lester Coke, aka Jim Brown, led the charge on Hope Road.

Don Taylor, Marley’s manager, claimed that both he and Marley were present at a ghetto court in which the gunmen who shot Marley were tried and executed.

According to Taylor, before one of the shooters was killed, he claimed the job was done for the CIA in exchange for cocaine and guns.

The Smile Jamaica Concert, headlined by Bob Marley & The Wailers, was held on December 5 at National Heroes Park, Kingston, Jamaica.

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