“It was a Traffic Accident”, Minister Musa on Jesus Sacul’s Death

This evening, we spoke with Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa to get his take on the incident that led to the tragic death of twenty-year-old Jesus Sacul. Minister Musa says he will wait until a thorough investigation is concluded to provide detailed comments on the matter. He did, however, tell us that he does not believe that police officers intentionally acted in a manner to take teenager’s life.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

Kareem Musa

“We have a lot of citizens for whatever reason, do not want to comply with police officer’s request, whether it is it is that you’re being held under arrest, whether it is you’re being pursued for example, in that instance, it was a high speed chase, very tragic, very unfortunate, and I extend my condolences to the family, but whenever you look at a high speed chase, not just in Belize,  there are videos all on the internet, on the U.S. newscasts, it never ends well for anybody. What’s the reason that you’re running from the police? It cannot be that just because you don’t have a helmet on, you decide to then try to outmaneuver, outrun the police. And, I wouldn’t want to comment because I don’t see the similarity. Of course, I understand the tragedy that the family is going through, and I understand that they are trying to say that it’s a similar situation. In the last instance, you know I was quick to judge right away to say that these individuals needed to be charged. But in this instance, I would rather wait until the investigation is over before I comment on it, because it really was a traffic accident. The question now is to determine who was at fault.  I do not think police officers intentionally knock down anybody or maliciously knock down anybody. But it is to determine who is at fault before we can pass judgment.”