Dennis Meadows withdraws 'choppa' comments

Dennis Meadows, the People's National Party's (PNP) standard-bearer for the Trelawny Northern constituency, has withdrawn comments he made recently regarding lotto scamming. 

Meadows, who was up and about on the campaign trail during the final leg of the Local Government Elections, was seen on a now viral social media video supporting the illegal act. 

"And I speak to the youth man dem on the corner, especially the one dem that call themself choppa. I can openly say, I have no problem with a man if him wahh chop. Cause them chop us during slavery, so nothing wrong if we chop them back," Meadows said. 

The former Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) senator has since withdrawn his comments as they do not "reflect" his "true stance." 

"I unequivocally withdraw those remarks and want to make it clear that I condemn any form of fraud and criminal behaviour generally. It was a thoughtless and unwise response to the deluge of money that was being corruptly spent in the Trelawny campaign by our opponents," he said in a statement to the press. 

"I am fully committed to upholding the law and collaborating with law enforcement authorities to prevent crime in all its manifestations."

Meadows has since received backlash from several parties following the video. 

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