The reign of gang violence in Haiti has been going strong for over two years, plaguing the nation’s people. Police and witnesses claim that a crowd in the Haitian capital pulled 13 suspected gang members from police custody after a traffic check and then battered and burnt them to death with gasoline-soaked tires.
The horrifying violence highlighted Port-au-Prince’s growing lawlessness, where criminal gangs are said to control 60% of the city as a result of President Jovenel Mose’s murder in July 2021.
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In a short statement, the Haiti National Police reported that police in the Canape Vert neighborhood of the city had stopped a minibus, then searched it for contraband, and seized firearms from suspects before they were “unfortunately lynched by members of the population.” The statement made no mention of how crowd participants managed to subdue the suspects.
According to a witness who identified himself as Edner Samuel and spoke to The Associated Press, members of the mob assaulted and stoned the alleged gang members before throwing tires on them, dousing them in gasoline, and setting them on fire.
At the scene, a news reporter observed 13 people on fire on a street. In the steep area of the city, the fires attracted hundreds of spectators, many of whom covered their noses to avoid the smoke.
According to Samuel, the suspects were allegedly on their way to another location to join a gang that was engaged in a police shootout. Jean Josue, another witness, reported that the neighborhood had experienced a lot of gunfire since the early hours of the day.
Shots kept going out in several neighborhoods as the situation in the capital remained tense.
According to witnesses there, the suspects were thought to be part of the Kraze Barye gang, whose name means “Breaking Barriers.” Authorities claim that Vitel’Homme Innocent, who is suspected of aiding in the abduction of 17 US missionaries in October 2021 and is also connected to the killing of Mose, is the group’s leader.
