Haitians demand resignation and arrest of police chief after gang attack

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti –

More civilians and police are calling for the firing and arrest of Haiti’s police chief as heavily armed gangs launched a new attack in the capital Port-au-Prince early Saturday, seizing control of another police station.

Gunmen raided the coastal community of Gressier on the western tip of Port-au-Prince late Friday, injuring people, setting cars on fire and attacking homes and other infrastructure, while scores of people fled to nearby mountains after a barrage of gunfire overnight.

It was not immediately known whether anyone died.

Videos posted on social media showed people fleeing in the early hours of dawn, balancing bags and suitcases on their heads, while men in sandals and carrying heavy weapons celebrated with gunfire.

“The city is ours,” said a man who filmed himself with other gunmen, noting that they were in Gressier. “We know no boundaries.”

The attack came about a week after gang attacks in central Port-au-Prince forced more than 3,700 people to flee their homes.

“The situation is critical and catastrophic,” Garry Jean-Baptiste, a spokesman for the police union SPNH-17, told The Associated Press.

He described Frantz Elbé, the director of the Haitian National Police, as inept and incompetent: “Monsieur Elbé has failed.”

Jean-Baptiste said the union wants a newly installed interim presidential council to demand Elbé’s resignation and order judicial officials to open an investigation into the crisis.

“The police continue to lose their premises, equipment and officers,” he said, adding that at least 30 police stations and substations have been attacked and burned in recent months.

He also accused Elbé and other high-ranking officials of complicity with gangs.

Elbé did not immediately respond seeking comment.

Jean-Baptiste said the officer stationed in Gressier “resisted for a while” but was unable to repel the gang attack due to a lack of personnel and resources.

“The police couldn’t prevent the worst,” he said.

Jean-Baptiste said the attack was planned by gunmen who came from the neighboring communities of Village de Dieu, Martissant and Mariani.

Gressier is located in an area controlled by Renel Destina. Best known as “Ti Lapli”, he is a leader of the Grand Ravine gang and, according to the UN, is considered a key ally of Izo, another powerful gang leader

The Grand Ravine gang has around 300 members and is accused of murder, kidnapping, rape and other crimes.

Those fleeing Gressier now join more than 360,000 other Haitians who have been forced from their homes as gangs raze communities in rival territories to control more land. Tens of thousands of Haitians have crammed into shabby, makeshift housing, including schools and government buildings abandoned due to gang violence.

Violence increased from February 29 as gangs launched coordinated attacks. Gunmen have burned police stations, opened fire at the main international airport, which has remained closed since March 4, and carried out raids on Haiti’s two largest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

Veteran politician André Michel wrote on the social media platform…We will not be able to secure the country alone.”

A United Nations-backed deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti has been repeatedly delayed, although some believe the first officers could arrive in late May.

In recent weeks, scores of U.S. military aircraft have landed at the closed airport in Port-au-Prince, carrying civilian contractors, life-saving supplies, construction materials and heavy equipment for the expected arrival of a multinational mission.