7 News Belize

Notorious Tyrone Meighan, Taking A Chance At Change
posted (August 9, 2016)
If you live in Belize City, or you watch the evening news regularly, you know very well about brothers Ellis and Tyrone Meighan. They're believed to be two of the most feared personalities of the Ghost Town Gang. They've made the news being charged and acquitted for a number of crimes, or because of the constant police attention, which they have complained of as being harassment.

Older brother Ellis Meighan granted us a number of interviews earlier this year, but whenever the press encounters Tyrone, he's usually dodging, or being hostile and confrontational with the camera operators. Today, however, he granted his first ever interview while he was out with Eastern Division South cops while they were out on a humanitarian mission. The cops were at the city hurricane shelters to provide lunch to those residents stuck there because their homes were destroyed by the storm.

Daniel Ortiz was at the shelter, and he spoke with Meighan. He took a look at the two faces of the most feared man in the streets:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
Viewers of the evening news are used to images like this one of Tyrone Meighan, the younger of the feared Meighan brothers of Banak Street. Here he is 2012 being arraigned for Aggravated Assault with a weapon, and a few months later for another aggravated assault and discharging a firearm in public.

In 2013, he was charged with 2 other men for probably the most serious offence yet, the murder of another Belize City man. He and his co-defendants beat that charge 2 years later, and after he was released, he joined the rest of his family who up until this point remains under intense, almost 24 hours watch from police posted there, and depending on how you look at it, it's either for their protection, or protect the public from them. You've even heard a number his relatives complain a few times on the news of alleged GSU ill-treatment and advantage taking.

But today, we got to see a different side of a man perceived to be very dangerous. He was with the police distributing food to their fellow Belize City residents who were devastated by Hurricane Earl. He said that he was moved by their suffering to try to help.

Tyrone Meighan - Assisting in Humanitarian Efforts
"I may have taken my time out today to come and see all the homeless people here right now and it sort of touched my heart. I'm a human being like everyone else, I have feelings, and I have thoughts like everyone else to see the people like that without any help. To come out here and spend time with the people here is better than just sitting down and smoking weed because it's a daily thing being out here watching these people really suffer. It hurts, you have a heart, you feel it, and to make Mr. Williams always being behind us, he's a good man and he's really fighting to make the crime stop in Belize City right now. He's always calling and checking up."

And while opening up for the first time ever to the media, he also was in the mood for some real talk about his experiences of life in the streets.

Tyrone Meighan - Assisting in Humanitarian Efforts
"Like I was saying we are men, understanding is understanding, if you say one thing to keep your word to stop doing whatever, then it's to stop doing whatever. At the same time, you can't let your guard down because as you let it down there's someone who is smaller than you who just saw your picture, maybe just heard your name from a long time ago and wants to catch you. The crime will stop as long as we have understanding as the older one to seize fire, because we can say we'll seize fire and then later on go shoot. The income we're getting has to go to lawyers, the court, jail, and your people to come up to jail to come see you so it makes no sense to do the crime. in my life I didn't have opportunities like everyone else in life so my opportunity was the streets, it fed me, clothed me, it wasn't like I could just go get a job and say that I was employed. I personally am staying out of trouble and have not been in the news for a while now since I got released off the murder case. They were trying to frame me for a rape situation where it didn't work out because the tests went through and they were trying to frame me, I stayed out of lick way. at the same time like what I said I shouldn't leave my guard down, this is the first time in coming on news to give a speech like this, but I want everyone to know that crime doesn't pay and everybody who's not in the street life right now, I'd advise them to not come in the street life right now because it doesn't pay. It's hard out here to live."

And as you heard, Meighan has great respect for Assistant Police Commissioner Chester Williams. Today, he gave a glowing endorsement of Williams' policing strategy for keeping peace in the city. Meighan also says that he's walking away from street life because he wants to live to see his kids grow old.

Tyrone Meighan - Assisting in Humanitarian Efforts
"From Mr. Williams started this intervention of all those meetings, I've seen an improvement. I know the crime rate stopped, no one is getting shot, the other day there were 2-3 murders for the day, 3 murders for the week. Like I said, the man is doing a good job and I applaud him because he's really making a change by coming to the Southside and making a change in the city itself. I have 4 children to take care of, I have to be feeding them, clothing them and like I said the street life is not paying so I'm not picking up the gun to try and shoot anyone if no one is picking up any weapon at me. I'm trying to be the bigger man in the situation and not stooping low. It's like a cycle, they're growing up from kids to the older ones, so it's like a cycle that always happens if we don't stop it from the bigger ones. The little ones they will grow up with it and if they do then the generation will grow up with it. I have 4 children and I want to be a grandparent, I want to see them and if this news cast happens right now and I go die out there, they'll say 'well that man wanted to change his life'. They'll say all sorts of things, 'that man was a bad guy, he robbed, shoot, that man did this and that'. I am the only person in this city that has so much charges and has never been convicted of one. It doesn't take a lot to change, it's not like it's a hard thing to do."

Later on in the news, we'll show you more from that Police Meet and Eat.

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