Reggae star Capleton performed for a crowd of thousands at the City Center on Saturday night. But 7NEWS has learnt that Capleton almost didn't make it stage on stage. Apparently police refused to entry to upwards of 50 Rastafarian youths who were wearing turbans on their heads. Police officers wanted to search under the turbans for drugs and illegal weapons but the youths refused because it is against their religion to take off their turban in public. So upon entering the city center Capleton saw the youths outside and said he will not perform if they weren't allowed inside.
But Saturday night the police prevailed as they held their ground and no entry was granted to the youths who didn't allow the search and Capleton eventually relented from his position and did perform. And while Capleton is gone, those in the Rastafarian community fear a dangerous precedent has been set, one where the police can target them based on their religion. So is it religious persecution or just crime prevention? Keith Swift reports.
Keith Swift Reporting, [keithkswift@gmail.com]
The Sons of Negus reggae collective opened for Capleton on Saturday night at the City Center. But to get on stage these young men say they first had to do what to them is the unthinkable - remove their head wraps.
Ras Bobo,
"Saturday night at the prophet's show we entered the gate and the police they disrespect we and made us take off our wraps which isn't supposed to happen."
Jah Voice,
"Before I even reached the line an officer approached me and told me I had to take off my wrap. I asked him why I had to take off my wrap when they know we don't conceal nothing but our locks underneath the wrap. He told me we have to take it off."
The Priest,
"When I reached there the police just told me to take off my wrap as they were searching my pocket and thing. To me that is a big disrespect. I take that real disrespectful because when they go places how come they don't take off their hat. Tell them to take off their hat and show us their baldhead. They want to look at our covenant and humiliate we and try defile we and we don't deal with that."
Humiliating, disrespectful, and even sacrilegious - the sons were among more than 50 youths forced to take off their turbans or risk being denied entry to the concert. The Sons gave in and removed their wraps in order to perform but they say it was humiliating because police didn't just remove a piece of fashion accessory. The Sons of Negus are followers of the "Bobo Shanti" sect of Rastafarianism and it doesn't get more sacred than their brightly colored turbans.
Ras Bobo,
"Emmanuel I is the Bobo, the high priest. You say Jesus and we say Emmanuel I and he is the high priest, the Bobo, and he wears the turban to separate from the dreads, the wolves them, because our locks is our covenant so he wraps it and that is the highest order of the Bobo them."
Jah Voice,
"It's a big disrespect because I don't let anyone take off my wrap. If I have to take off my wrap I will do it myself because you don't know what they have touched out there. They could have just come back from dealing with the dead. Me personally, and I am putting it out to the media and public and even the police them, if you ever meet a man and you take off his wrap and you find anything under the wrap send them to jail. Don't even deal with the court, send them to jail and give them time. We personally don't play with the wrap, we take it seriously and don't put anything underneath it."
Ras Bobo,
"It will be obvious if I am walking with a weapon under a wrap like this. It will not be tight like this. See how this tight is. This is my locks, if I put anything else under this it will have a deformative shape or something. This is my pure locks and that is defilement. They know us as the Bobos because our wrap is different than even those out there who are wrapping to try look like us because we burn from them out."
The Priest,
"For we that is straight defilement. They are trying to defile the priest them."
This morning I visited a Bobo Shanti House which also doubles as a recording studio in the Mesopotamia area. There I met Ras Bobo, the Priest, and Jah Voice who told me they feel they were profiled because of their religion.
Ras Bobo,
"As they see Rasta they see weed. As they see us they say Bob Marley and weed. They don't really check us on the other level."
The Priest,
"They look on the outer layer of we. They look on how we look, our physical features, and as they see that they are scornful."
Ras Bobo,
"They didn't even search we. Just our wrap they took off. I had a bag and they didn't search my bag or nothing. It was just my wrap they took off. It is a humiliation in front of people like we are smuggling drugs or we are carrying guns. Nothing can wrap under our wrap but our locks.
Not only we as Rasta smoke weed. Everybody smokes weed and not because of our locks you will target us. People pass you (the police) everyday with weed and you don't search people but because of our locks and our appearance they think we are guilty of something. And every time they search us they don't come across anything like weapons. They only come across a smoke. That is all they will find on we; nothing to harm nobody or harm ourselves."
And so the Sons of Negus say they don't want special treatment, they just want freedom from religious persecution. And short of them breaking the law - that is a right guaranteed under the constitution.
Again the Sons of Negus did unwrap their turbans for the cops to search under it but one artist who didn't was Louie Ganzie. Ganzie was scheduled to perform but didn't because he refused to unwrap his turban.
The concert's promoter told 7NEWS they hired police officers to guard the City Center. He says officers started searching turbans after they found a stick of marijuana hidden under one. The promoter says in the future a solution could be having a private room for the Bobo Shantis to unwrap their turbans.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift