Roaring Creek Man Says a Cop Beat Him Up; His Family Calls for a Stop to Police Brutality

Tricia Pelayo

The family of twenty-one-year-old Nigel Williams Junior is calling on the Belize Police Department to investigate an act of police brutality. The family alleges that the young man was in his home village of Roaring Creek when police detained him for improper use of a face mask on Tuesday evening. The cops took him to the police station that’s where the young man says a cop attacked him from behind and the other officers in the station didn’t intervene. Today, his aunt Tricia Pelayo is calling on the officials of the Ministry and the Police Department to investigate the incident.

Tricia Pelayo, Aunt of Victim

“This really hit home. Honestly, it really hit home. We listen to the news almost every night and we hear young men and young women being abused by the police and I had to speak out, gial.  He had his mask on under his neck but he didn’t have it properly on, I am assuming. So, they took him for that but they didn’t have to do what they do ah. So, I just want justice. The family, we are trying to seek legal counsel. We know the officer personally that did the abuse to him but he got to the station and his back was turned and all of a sudden he feel hitting behind his back and then he was pushed towards a door and I think that is what either caused the bruise on his eye. Bu four other officers sat right there watching this officer hitting and beating up on my nephew and none of them could have done anything? He was charged for not wearing the mask by the way but the whole thing is we had to make a police report and seek medical. For his eye right now it seems like something is damaged with his eye and we don’t even know if it will get back to normal.  This has to stop. This seriously has to stop. Hashtag end police brutality in Belize. I am calling on the Commissioner of Police and the minister of national security to do something about it. Home affairs Minister, do something about it because this nuh wah end.”

Pelayo says her nephew has had to stop working his construction job due to the facial injuries he sustained from the attack. They have since made a report to Internal Affairs.