The residents were frustrated about the apparent non-action by police over crimes which include arson, assault and the alleged rape of a black woman by three white men at the end of August.

This frustration culminated in a rally on St John's over the weekend which was attended by members of the clergy, social activists and residents from several islands.

They demanded that police release information about the investigations.

African American business woman Esther Fretts, the victim of the alleged rape described her ordeal to BBC Caribbean Radio.

"On August 30, I was raped by three white men. After they finished raping me they threw me overboard. I was bound, my lips were glued, I couldn't speak, I couldn't scream."

"Two construction workers found me and they took me to the clinic," she said.

Mrs Fretts said the men who allegedly raped her were "heavily masked" and wore gloves.

She believes she was targeted because she was the only black business owner in a certain part of the island.

Prejudice

"From the beginning when I got there, I was told that 'my kind' don't have business for long," she said. "They used to throw garbage, broken bottles, they wrote racial slurs on my door."

Dr Chenzira Kahina is a member of the group We The People For Justice which organised the weekend protest.

She explained that explained that there was a lot of racism on St John's and blamed the territory’s leadership for the situation.

"While we would like to say that we have control of our own destiny and we do have predominantly African leaders representing us, they do not focus on the needs of the people of the Virgin Islands," Dr Kahina said.

"They focus on the tourists and they also focus on the predominantly minority white investors."

Last week, the territory's governor wrote to the US attorney general about the need for federal investigators to go public the results of their investigation.