The GSU is taking flack and under scrutiny again tonight after they allegedly roughed up as much as 20 young men in the Village of Crooked.
The men allege that on Monday night at around 8:30 while they were playing basketball on the village court, the GSU swarmed in and began to brutalize them - using pepper spray and tasers on them.
The men said when they asked what was going on; they were told by the officers that they were looking for the GAZA leader. The incident left the entire village shaken and outraged at the treatment they received. Today their Area Representative Edmund Castro along with the Commissioned of Police - David Henderson both visited the young men and now an investigation into the matter of the alleged brutality is underway.
Commissioner Henderson told us why it is a matter of concern:
David Henderson - Commissioner of Police
"Well, it is an allegation. We will be sending in a team from the Internal Affairs. They will be coming in; they will be interviewing persons. A full investigation will be carried out, and whatever needs to be done, will be done. I have not seen any report. It is only an allegation. As soon as it is fully investigated, then we'll be able to really address it."
Devin Swasey - Victim
"I was out there practicing basketball for the Friday tournament that village usually has. During the weekend, we usually have a tournament. We were practicing out there when the GSU came, and they told us to lie down on the ground. We obeyed what they told us. They came over and asked us our names and our ages. When they were asking us these questions, they were tasering us. When they finished with one, they went to the others. One of them came to my hand stood on it. I told him that he was hurting my hand and that it is sick. One of them repeated what I said. He came over and did the same thing that other one was doing. They said that they were hunting for the head of the Gaza gang. All of us out there told them that we don't know the Gaza. We just heard the name, but we don't know who the leader is."
Hon. Edmund Castro - Area Representative, Belize Rural North
"I had a meeting earlier with the Commissioner on 2 fronts. 1, we looked at house for a police officer to stay here in the village of Crooked Tree, and visited that area, looked at the house. The other one was that we met with several of the people that were involved with situation 2 nights ago where the GSU allegedly assaulted the young men. The Commissioner told us that tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock, the Internal Affair will be up here to look into the situation, investigate to see what went wrong, and what the situation was here in Crooked Tree with the youths who were playing ball. As far as we know, we don't have any gangs here in Crooked Tree, no 'Gaza' or whatever the names are. We don't have that out here. So, it's so unfortunate that this took place here in Crooked Tree, but as the Area Representative, I am out here to make sure that we get justice, and that this kind of abuse will not be tolerated, period. If you want to interrogate or get some information, you do your job, but there is no need to abuse nobody. We will not tolerate that in Crooked Tree. We are at the level where the Commissioner himself came out here today to speak with several of the youngsters, and the Internal Affairs will be here tomorrow. So, I think that at that level, the investigation can continue to find out what went wrong with the people and the GSU. I know that in the past several weeks or so, we had problems here in Crooked Tree, where individuals had broken into Bill Tillett's home, tied him up, and stole his money. We have several break ins in Crooked Tree, but this type of abuse does not warrant that type of behavior."
Plans for a new police station in the village were also discussed between the Minister and the Commissioner. The village has been operating without a police station for some time now since the substation was broken down.
Email
Print