Haiti: 2 Florida men involved in assassination
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Two South Florida men have been arrested in connection with the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, the Miami Herald has learned.
James Solages, of Fort Lauderdale, was identified as one of the assailants by Mathias Pierre, a minister in charge of Haitian elections. Pierre did not say if Solages is a U.S. citizen or a permanent U.S. resident.
In an undated video interview in Creole, Solages, who lived in Fort Lauderdale and is from Jacmel in southeast Haiti, called himself a philanthropist and child advocate who was involved in helping schoolchildren from the area where he grew up.
A second man arrested in the assassination has been identified as Joseph Vincent, from the Miami area. He’s of Haitian descent and about 56 years old, according to a source familiar with the ongoing investigation. Pierre said he could not confirm the name of the second suspect because the investigation is ongoing.
Earlier in the day, a crowd in the neighborhood of Petion-Ville, near where the president was killed, captured two foreigners presumed to be involved in the assassination of Moïse, Haiti’s national police chief said.
A video shared on social media shows a crowd pulling two men, one of whom was shirtless and was tied with a rope.
“Advance, advance!” someone is heard yelling on the video as the crowd pushes the two men.
The crowd took the two men to the police station in the neighborhood of Petion-Ville. Leon Charles, interim national police director, speaking to Radio Metropole in front of the police station, said the two men are among those they suspect killed the president Wednesday morning. The police director did not explain how the crowd knew the two men were involved in the assassination.
Charles said police killed seven of the assailants during a firefight Wednesday and have arrested six other people suspected of being involved in the assassination.
A large crowd had gathered outside the police station demanding that the police turn over the suspects.
Police are continuing the search for more suspects, but Charles did not provide the nationality of any of those in custody. But he said there are both Black and white suspects as well as foreigners.
What’s important, he said, is “to find out how they did this.”
While the search for suspects continues, the makeup of the leadership of the country remained in question Thursday.
Claude Joseph, the prime minister who recently resigned his post, said he is in charge and has declared martial law throughout the country. But Ariel Henry, a politician and neurosurgeon who was newly appointed last week by Moïse to be prime minister, claims he’s in charge, even though he has not been sworn in.
The Biden administration said Thursday that it recognizes Joseph as Haiti’s acting prime minister.
“Our support is for Haiti’s democratic institutions and people,” one senior administration official said. “While we recognize acting prime minister Claude Joseph, we continue to make clear the urgent need for a dialogue and elections.”
A second official confirmed that Joseph is viewed as the acting head of state.