Thousands of protesters in Haiti loot stores, battle police
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Thousands of protesters clashed with police as they looted stores and tried to break through a barricade leading toward the residence of Haitian President Jovenel Moise Friday in one of the biggest demonstrations in weeks to demand his resignation. The violence came a day after a journalist covering the demonstrations was fatally shot in his car.
A group of motorcycle drivers gunned their engines in front of the police barricade blocking the sole street leading to the upscale Port-auPrince neighborhood, with one person holding up a dead dog that had been dragged through the streets by a rope. A small group yelled: “Here’s Jovenel!”
Police fired tear gas and bullets into the air. Protesters burned tires and spilled oil on some streets in Haiti’s capital, warning the demonstrations could get even more violent as anger over corruption, rising inflation and a lack of basic goods continued to roil the country.
Friday’s protest came after reporter Nehemie Joseph of Radio Mega, who had been covering the protests, was found dead in his car late Thursday in Mirebalais, northeast of Port-au-Prince, according to Radio Vision 2000.
In a Facebook post in late September, Joseph said that a couple of politicians had threatened him after one of his shows and accused him of inciting protests. It was unclear, however, if this was related to his killing.
Earlier this week, Moise announced the creation of a commission charged with finding a solution to the worsening crisis, but opposition leaders rejected his call for dialogue and unity.