{"id":2618,"date":"2019-07-31T19:04:55","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T19:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2618"},"modified":"2019-07-31T19:04:58","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T19:04:58","slug":"rastas-cry-foul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2618","title":{"rendered":"Rastas cry foul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Michael Nattoo<\/strong><\/em> – Staff Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Robert Lee Young, more popularly known as Changa Changa, shows up to court today, he is not only expected to be fully decked out in his usual banana balk fashion wear (despite being warned against wearing such), but he will also be backed by a number of Rastafarian protesters, who have recently petitioned and demanded that all charges against him \u2013 assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest \u2013 be dropped<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changa Changa was, on Friday, July 12, 2019, walking along a\nsection of Kent Avenue in Montego Bay, when he was approached by two police\nofficers. In an earlier report, the Western Mirror revealed the circumstances\nunder which the entertainer, who has been so known for over 40 years, got\ncaught in a tangle with the law. According to the report, \u201cChanga Changa was\nasked for a search by one of the officers, to which he obliged. He was further\nasked to declare whether or not he had any illegal items or substances on him,\nwhich he denied. The lawmen\u2019s search, according to Changa Changa, turned up\nnothing illegal. At that point, he was asked for a strip search, which he\npassionately refused.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his words, Changa Changa claimed that he was manhandled\nby the police, who sought to \u201cmake a mockery\u201d of him. He was taken to the\nBarnett Street Police Station, where he was charged for assaulting a police\nofficer and resisting arrest. The former Herbert Morrison Technical High School\nstudent was also warned that his court appearance dress code had to conform to\n\u201cnormal\u201d attire \u2013 a seemingly impossible request for Changa Changa, who has,\nfor the past 40 years, donned his banana balk-fashioned clothing. He disclosed he\nhas no intention of wearing \u201cnormal\u201d attire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CORAL GARDENS BENEVOLENT SOCIETY GETS INVOLVED<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the series of events that led to Changa Changa\u2019s\narrest and the subsequent charges placed against him, the ever-active Coral\nGardens Benevolent Society (CGBS) added its voice to the mix, and has made\nseveral bold demands. In a statement to the Western Mirror, the CBGS shared:\n\u201cThe action of the police in this case is a stark reminder of the human rights\nabuses that were meted out to members of the Rastafari community during the\nState-sponsored atrocities of 1963. Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society\nhas been at the forefront advocating for such atrocities to stop and that the\nconstitutional rights of members of the Rastafari community be respected by\nagents of the State.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CGBS then disclosed its demands, foremost among which is\nthat all charges be dropped against the entertainer. The Society outlined that:\n\u201c1) All charges be dropped against Robert Lee Young, aka Changa Changa. 2)\nTargeting, searching, arresting and detaining Rastafari individuals must stop.\n3) State and society prejudices, discrimination and harassment of members of\nthe Rastafari community, especially by police, must stop. 4) Police stop\nregarding and portraying Rastafari as criminals.\u201d The demands ended with the\nSociety calling for the sovereign rights of members of the Rastafari community\nbe acknowledged, as is currently the case with the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amidst the demands, it was also revealed to the Western\nMirror that a number of Rastafarians will be showing up to court today in\nsolidarity with their brother, Changa Changa, and will be reinforcing their\ndemands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the incident was first reported, Changa Changa\ndisclosed that, \u201cI don\u2019t sell drugs and I don\u2019t pimp the tourists. The police\nwant to make a mockery out of me. Everybody know me as a entertainer, and I\u2019m\nnot no wrongdoer.\u201d He was granted bail in the sum of $30,000. Charles Sinclair\nJr. is expected to represent him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Robert Lee Young, more popularly known as Changa Changa, shows up to court today, he is not only expected to be fully decked out in his usual banana balk fashion wear (despite being warned against wearing such), but he will also be backed by a number of Rastafarian protesters, who have recently petitioned and demanded that all charges against him \u2013 assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest \u2013 be dropped.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1394,1435,1436,699,1398],"class_list":["post-2618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-changa-changa","tag-coral-gardens-benevolent-society","tag-court","tag-rastafari","tag-robert-lee-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2618"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2619,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2618\/revisions\/2619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}