Over the weekend - footage emerged of UDP Collet Representative Patrick Faber engaged in another domestic dispute. In this one, he is seen head butting his partner. 7News has seen a date and location stamp to confirm that it happened on May third of this year.
Now, if we had our way, this level of dirt and depth in a domestic dispute would never make the news, but, Mr Faber is an elected official - and his actions - or those any elected official - merit a higher level of scrutiny and exposure.
Today, the case took on a new wrinkle when the mother of Faber's daughter, Nickiesha Polanco - who also has a sordid history of abuse with him - made what we believe to be her first post on their domestic difficulties. Polanco, we should not is the person who filmed Faber's struggle that led to the head butt - and her daughter is the one on the edge of the frame in the video. She says, "The incident that is circulating on social media… of a most recent domestic issue involving my daughter's father and his fiancé; in the presence of my child during one of our most recent trips home this past summer is very frightening and regrettable….I too have lived through my nightmare with the said man and that is why I decided to step away, for my daughter's safety and mine. I would implore all women who are victims of domestic violence to realize that your life and your children's lives are what should be YOUR priority! I know it is hard getting away from someone you believe you love but getting away may save your life! People need to stop enabling the Abusers! People need to stop blaming the victims and the Victims need to stop blaming themselves." End quote.
Notable, but not necessarily newsworthy. That is until this evening when Patrick Faber commented on her post - basically saying she was just jealous that he ended up with the other woman and not her.
That prompted Polanco to reach out to Jules Vasquez and give her first interview on this thorny subject. We asked her about Faber's response to her post - and his claim that she is only doing this because of jealousy. She is in the US and spoke to us via Zoom. Since she is a victim we blurred her face:
Jules Vasquez
"Are you speaking out now to actually to deal or his public reputation a sort of death blow since this video is out showing him headbutting his current partner?"
Nickiesha Polanco, Mother of Faber's Child
"No, it's like I said, the reason why I originally decided to post something publicly on my page is because I had people messaging me and say, oh your daughter was there, are you okay? Some people thought it was me, because the clip that Channel 7 posted has the face blurred out and it doesn't have anyone's name. People originally thought it was me and that my daughter was there witnessing me and him in a physical altercation. That is the reason why I addressed it."
"I have been through so much that at this point I refused to be bullied by him, throw any comments or any means of anything. Me speaking out is me stating my truth."
Jules Vasquez
"Mr. Faber has commented on your post and says, why don't you tell people that you are the one who took the video and sold it to my political enemies, because and he names the doctor is pregnant and I chose her over your evil nasty destructive personality. What's your response to that?"
Nickiesha Polanco, Mother of Faber's Child
"That is not true. I never sold that video to anyone. When that incident occurred, I has sent the video to him and the 2 of his closest political allies. And this was a few months ago. Since then, I had heard nothing about it. The only reason I end up addressing it publicly on my facebook page is because my child was in the video. My daughter showed at the corner of the video and people were messaging me asking me about it whatever the situation was and I decided I'm going to address it in a post and for him to say or even try to make it seemed like I did it out of jealousy, no, no, no."
"In Patrick's comment he also stated that, oh, I sold the video. My God, if I wanted to hurt that man, the other damaging and damning things I have on him that I could just release or make public - no, I didn't. So, it was appalling reading his comment on my post."
Jules Vasquez
"You shared with me a video a short while ago, it's of security cameras at your home in Los Lagos where you are not right now, but showing me security videos that you say were taken a short while ago and it appears to show Mr. Faber walking around your home or your property. You know what's happening? Have you called him to say what's up?"
Nickiesha Polanco, Mother of Faber's Child
"I haven't spoken to him since he went at the house walking around. I don't know if he thought I was there, because in the post he also said that I should say why I left or why I can't come back to the US or something. I don't know if he thinks I'm in Belize, which I am not. I am here in the US. I don't know if its a tactic to intimidate me, because he knows the camera is there outside. I don't know if he was trying to see which way he could possibly get into the house, I do not know. But it's not the first time that something has happened and he showed up to that house unannounced and unwanted. But that is just to show how he feels and how he thinks about himself that he can continue doing these things and get away with it. Even with the comment that he just commented on my post, he's not addressing what he did, how he physically or headbutted his fiance, he is just focussed on, oh, I'm the one that recorded it. Why don't I tell people where I'm at. Focus on the problem, he is the problem. He needs to focus on himself."
Tomorrow we'll have part two of that interview where Polanco discusses why she recorded that whole exchange with her daughter in the middle of the dispute.
