A Gang In Haiti Opens Fire On A Crowd Of Parishioners Trying To Rid The Community Of Criminals

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A powerful gang opened fire on a large group of parishioners headed by a pastor as they marched through a village armed with machetes to cleanse it of gang members on Saturday.

The incident was captured on video by journalists on the site, and numerous people were murdered and injured, according to Marie Yolène Gilles, director of the human rights organization Fondasyon Je Klere.

She watched online as hundreds of people from a local church marched through Canaan, a tent town on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince created by survivors of the horrific 2010 earthquake.

The number of those killed and injured in the attack was unknown.

Canaan is controlled by a group commanded by a man known as “Jeff,” who is thought to be affiliated with the “5 Seconds” gang.

Since President Jovenel Mose’s killing in July 2021, gangs have expanded in prominence and are estimated to control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince.

Gédéon Jean, director of Haiti’s Centre for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, told the Associated Press that he, too, watched the event occur online and planned to request an investigation from the Ministry of Justice.

He called the preacher irresponsible because he “engaged a group of people and put them in a situation like this.”

Parishioners with machetes and yelling “Free Canaan!” were no match for gang members wielding assault weapons.

“Police should have stopped them from going,” Jean claimed. “It’s heinous for the state to allow something like this to happen.”

A message sent for a spokeswoman of Haiti’s National Police still needs to be returned.

According to the most recent United Nations numbers, more than 2,400 people were killed, 950 were kidnapped, and 902 were injured in Haiti between January 1 and August 15.

Tired of the increase in gang violence, Haitians organized a violent movement known as “bwa kale” in April to target suspected gang members. According to the United Nations, more than 350 people have been slain since the rebellion began.

The Haitian government requested the rapid deployment of a foreign armed force to combat gang violence in October.

Kenya’s government has offered to head a multinational army, and an eastern African team of high officials recently visited Haiti on a reconnaissance trip.

The United States announced earlier this month that it would introduce a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing Kenya to take such measures.

SOURCE – (AP)