Barber’s Shop Shuts Down After Sacrificial Birds Found In Basement
After the city of New Bedford, Massachusetts was alerted that there were roosters in the basement of a local barbershop; no one expected that they would be dealing with a religious barber, who had an explanation.
Owner William Camacho, 41, was one of three men in the city who practiced a religion known as Palo Mayombe, which is an Afro-Carribean religion that is often compared to Santeria. Although it is more accurately described as the world’s most powerful and feared form of black magic, to those who are interested. Either way, Camacho did admit that he was involved in animal sacrificing, specifically, that of birds.
While fessing up to his religious hobbies, he explained that he did not partake in any of these activities in the actual barbershop. In fact, he was in the middle of moving and needed a place to bring the birds. Ironically, the dead rooster that was found in the basement had died of natural causes.
Camacho had said that he took the birds to countryside to commit the sacrifices. He believes that these birds allow him to communicate with Spirits and Gods and has even said, “These birds are sacred; they’re basically saints.’’ When attempting to justify hiding the birds at his shop, he asked what he was “supposed to do while (he) moved? Take (his) saints and throw them in a storage unit?’’
Along with the rooster that had been dead for two days, there were the other birds that were being held at the shop, Bad Boyz Cutz, which included: five caged birds and two pigeons. There was also an alter with an array of hacksaws.
Mayor Scott W. Lang had made a point of assuring everyone that Bad Boyz Cutz was not shut down due to Mr. Camacho’s religious beliefs, but rather the health and safety of his current or potential clients. They still are not fully confident in the fact that the sacrifices were occurring outside of the business and need to ensure this is not happening before the business can be re-opened.
In the meantime, the body of the rooster will be sent to Tufts University to be examined. Based on the results of the necropsy, they will decide whether they need to to move forward with an animal cruelty case, which could be big trouble for Camacho. Frankly, right now he’s in enough trouble as it is.
He seems to not be aware that as of now his shop has been closed and will be waiting on his actions to be re-opened. In fact, he’s planning on suing the city because he feels that his civil rights have been violated. Right now he should focus more attention on getting his shop in good enough condition to pass a health examination. They would like Camacho to clean the basement and keep birds out of it, for good.
Even after Camacho makes the necessary changes, it will still be up to the state Division of Professional License whether Mr. Camacho’s barber license will be suspended.