'I Will Kill Them All': Haiti Police Can't Say What They're Doing to Free 50+ Hostages After Gang Massacre
Gunmen killed 47 people and abducted more than 50 others in one of Haiti's largest mass kidnappings in years — and days later, the national police still can't tell reporters what's being done to bring the hostages home.
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Haiti's National Police are facing a public revolt over their handling of a gang massacre that left 47 people dead and more than 50 kidnapped in Kenscoff, a hillside community above Port-au-Prince long considered one of the safer pockets of the crisis-wracked country. The attack, which struck earlier this week, is believed to be among the largest mass kidnappings Haiti has seen in years, according to NPR.
Armed men stormed the community in a coordinated raid, killing dozens and dragging more than 50 residents away. One Kenscoff man told reporters his brother, stepmother, stepfather and two cousins were all taken; his 16-year-old niece was kidnapped and raped before she managed to escape. The United Nations estimates more than 2,600 people have now been displaced from the area.
Police Won't Say What's Next
The gang has since released a video threatening Vladimir Paraison, director of Haiti's National Police, warning him against using drones to push into the area. "Paraison, if any of our soldiers are hurt, I will kill all of them," the gang leader said on camera, referencing the hostages directly.
PARAISON, IF ANY OF OUR SOLDIERS ARE HURT, I WILL KILL ALL OF THEM.
Anger boiled over Thursday when police spokesperson Garry Desrosiers held a news conference and took only a handful of questions from journalists, according to NBC News. Asked directly what police plan to do about the hostages, Desrosiers said he could not answer publicly — a response that has only deepened public fury in a country where armed gangs already control an estimated 85% of the capital.
The Haitian Times reports residents are demanding to know why police and the Kenya-led multinational security support mission failed to prevent the attack in the first place, given Kenscoff's reputation as a relatively secure enclave that had largely escaped the gang violence consuming other parts of the capital region.
No timeline has been given for any rescue operation, and with the gang leader's threat still hanging over the standoff, families of the missing say they are being told to simply wait.