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Petillo would later be arrested in connection with the gathering. Cherisse Halsall caught up with the land activist at his arraignment this morning in Belmopan. Here is that story.

This was the traffic Jam on the George Price Highway on Sunday morning, vehicle upon vehicle either waiting for or caught up in Land activist Nigel Petillo's mid-pandemic grassroots land grab.

Nigel Petillo, Land Activist
"I, from the age of 18 trying to get a piece of land and it's been tough. It's been hard."

"I admire the way the immigrants they aggress the land. I learned from that and I decided well I have to try that route and that route has proven, it works, However this time go around, that land in Cotton tree, people from Cotton Tree called me to come take a little peep so I did a site inspection about a week ago or two weeks ago, got some evaluations together and it's in the same situation as the previous project that I did. So we proceeded and decided that we'd gather up the members of the community and call out other Belizeans interested in land and from there that was shown yesterday the interest that people have in wanting land."

But it certainly came across that way with the massive crowd assembled, represented here by the documents they submitted, appearing as a threat to all government social distancing protocols.

Cherisse Halsall:
"But Sir, Surely when you heard what number of people had interest, didn't you grow concerned about the crowd that would appear out there?"

Nigel Petillo, Land Activist
"And do you know what number of people have interest in going swimming too isn't that a reason to be concerned as well? However the Prime Minister and the government guided us and said maintain no bigger than groups of 10 and we did the same to maintain your spacing. The issue isn't that. That's not the issue we clearly know that those are bogus charges. The situation here is the government now decides that they are gonna be the problem here. The government decides that they don't care what you the poor man has to say. The government doesn't care what you have to say all the while you've been requesting land for generations and decades and decades. The government has been hearing that. Now when you decide to come together and all of us register our displeasure at the same time it's too loud. So they realize this thing yah di get out of hand go shut them down, take your rat-a-ta-ta guns and just make sure they move from there. That was the response of the government yesterday that was the response of your area reps."

Petillo's Attorney Arthur Saldivar isn't shy about the throng of people who came out to support his client's cause. And this morning he claimed to be uncertain as to the reason for His client's arrest telling us that police had no occasion to confront Petillo on the scene and could therefore have no reason to charge him.

Arthur Saldivar, Attorney-at-Law
"At 9:45 on Sunday morning I was called again by a member of the Petillo family to go to find out whether or not Mr. Petillo had been detained as was suspected at that time. When I arrived at mile 44 I saw a throng of people. At least 100 to 2000 people were there and the police had a major presence there. I approached the senior superintendent Mr. Carcamo. I asked him if he'd seen Mr. Petillo. He told me no he did not see Mr. Petillo. I proceeded to make my way out. While I was doing so I was contacted to go to a particular location which I did. I located my client. I started the process of walking him out of the private property upon which he was and we then left in separate vehicles."

But that was by no means the end of the story because by Saturday evening The cops tracked Petillo down at home and put him under arrest.

Arthur Saldivar, Attorney-at-Law
"My client was taken into custody by the police at his home at mile 41 and after he was taken into custody and detained members of his family contacted me to go and assist him. I went to the station to assist my client as I have on many occasions but on this particular occasion Police took it upon themselves to levy a charge. First of not wearing a mask. Let me be clear, I entered the Belmopan police station with my mask. Every minute, every second of my time in the police department I had my mask on my face, I did not remove it even when they locked me in a cell. I had my mask, none of the other persons in the cell had masks. That cell was 6ft by 6ft."

And while both men pleaded not guilty to a litany of charges which they call bogus.

It may seem like a tight spot but it's one in which both the land activist or the attorney have found themselves in before.

Nigel Petillo, Land Activist
"Me and my attorney were arrested and arraigned for the charges. We can deal with that. That is okay. But again if you are saying that I was then everybody if that's the case bring the whole whatever number of us were there and then tell the rest of the public and to tell the poor people that this is how you will continue treating us from this point."

Petillo is keeping up the fight claiming that land issues affect and disenfranchise all Belizeans even the police.

Nigel Petillo, Land Activist
"I'm just hoping that the police department though, because I don't want the grassroots people or the poor people on a whole point fingers at the police department. Those guys have a job to do, they are only doing the job. I can tell you this. Many people from the police department many officers are calling wanting assistance and they understand the frustration themselves. They can't get land. In fact some of them are complaining that the bigger officers have big lands, I'm not worried about that I'm just trying to have you guys understand that land issues are affecting all of us countrywide period."

Petillo says he is in the process of compiling spreadsheets of information in order to better assist all those who have registered their interest in land of their own. He is also working on a website where those who wish to register interest will be able to do so from their home.