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15 Things To Know About Police Officer Turned Gang-leader

Published

1 year ago

March 14, 2024

Haiti has been plunged into a crisis as armed gangs take over the Caribbean country and one of the leaders is a police officer-turned-gangster, Jimmy Chérizier popularly known as Barbecue.

Reports revealed that Jimmy “Barbeque” Chérizier’s forces have laid siege to Haiti’s main international airport, traded fire with troops at government sites, and sparked a mass jailbreak.

As law and order collapsed in Haiti, Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned on Wednesday as Barbecue and other gangsters were hell-bent on plunging the country into war.

Henry’s resignation happened following the meeting of the regional leaders in Jamaica on Monday to discuss a political transition in the country.

As Haiti battles probably one of the fiercest crises in its history, this article delves into some of the information about Barbecue.

1. Barbecue was born in 1976 or 1977 in Delmas, Ouest which located in the Port-au-Prince Arrondissement and next to the slums of La Saline, Port-au-Prince.

2. Chérizier was a police officer for the Haitian National Police before becoming a gang leader.

3. Chérizier belonged to the Unité Départementale pour le maintien de l’Ordre (UDMO, “Unit for the Maintenance of Order”), a special unit within the Haitian National Police.

4. He became a gang leader in Base Delmas 6, Delmas, Ouest, perpetrating multiple large-scale massacres.

5. Barbecue is now the head of the Fòs Revolisyonè G9 an Fanmi e Alye (“Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies”, abbreviated “G9” or “FRG9”), a federation of over a dozen Haitian gangs based in Port-au-Prince.

6. He is notorious for making public appearances in military camouflage and a beret, and addressed himself as the leader of an “armed revolution”.

7. Considered one of the most powerful gang leaders in Haiti, he is also currently believed to be one of the country’s de facto most powerful political figures.

8. In early March 2024, the G9 staged the largest jailbreak in Haitian history and escalated attacks across the country, including an attempted siege of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport.

9. Chérizier claimed responsibility for the attacks and stated that the goal was to capture key government institutions, overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry and take power in Haiti.

10. While issuing his threats, he warned that “if Ariel Henry doesn’t step down and the international community continues to support him, they will lead us directly to a civil war which will end in genocide,” an utterance that forced Henry to quit as Haitian leader.

11. While he was a police officer, Chérizier is alleged to have perpetrated the 2018 La Saline massacre, in which at least 71 people were killed and over 400 homes burnt down.

12. He is accused of being involved in the 2017 Grande Ravine massacre which killed at least nine people, and the 2019 Bel-Air massacre.

13. In December 2018, Chérizier was fired by the Haitian National Police.

14. In July 2022, the G9 engaged in a gang war with rival gang G-Pèp for the control of Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince resulting in Port-au-Prince gang war resulted in at least 50 people dead.

15. Also, on 12 September 2022, during the fuel shortages part of the 2022 Haitian crisis, the G9 seized control of the Varreux fuel terminal, the main gas terminal in Port-au-Prince and one of Haiti’s main fuel terminals.

In interviews, Chérizier has likened himself to Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Fidel Castro, and even Robin Hood. He is also an admirer of Haitian dictator Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, who ruled the country with an iron hand from 1957 to 1971.

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NGO Says Starving Gaza Children Too Weak To Cry

Published

4 hours ago

August 27, 2025

Editor

The head of Save the Children described in horrific detail on Wednesday the slow agony of starving children in Gaza, saying they are so weak they do not even cry.

Addressing a Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the president of the international charity, Inger Ashing, said famine — declared by the UN last week to be happening in Gaza — is not just a dry technical term.

“When there is not enough food, children become acutely malnourished, and then they die slowly and painfully. This, in simple terms, is what famine is,” said Ashing.

She went on to describe what happens when children die of hunger over the course of several weeks, as the body first consumes its own fat to survive, and when that is gone, literally consumes itself as it eats muscles and vital organs.

“Yet our clinics are almost silent. Now, children do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony. They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away,” said Ashing.

She insisted that aid groups have been warning loudly that famine was coming as Israel prevented food and other essentials from entering Gaza over the course of two years of war triggered by the Hamas attack of October 2023.

“Everyone in this room has a legal and moral responsibility to act to stop this atrocity,” said Ashing.

The United Nations officially declared famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming what it called the systematic obstruction of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war.

A UN-backed hunger monitor called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative said famine was affecting 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory, including Gaza City.

The IPC projected that the famine would expand by the end of September to cover around two-thirds of Gaza.
AFP

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Again, Russia Claims Another Village In Ukraine’s Region

Published

2 days ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

The Russian army Monday claimed to have captured another village in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, moving deeper into Ukrainian territory as peace efforts stall.

Russian forces are slowly but steadily gaining ground in costly battles for largely devastated areas in eastern and central Ukraine, normally with few inhabitants or intact buildings left.

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had seized the settlement of Zaporizke in the region, which Russian troops recently advanced into for the first time in the three-and-a-half-year offensive.

Kyiv denies that Russian troops have gained a foothold in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub.

After another push by US President Donald Trump to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, hopes for peace dimmed when Russia last week ruled out any immediate meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

The central region of Dnipropetrovsk has previously been largely spared from fighting that has ravaged swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, until Russia said its forces broke through in July.

Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea — that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.

Ukraine said Russia had launched over 100 drones Monday, killing a 37-year old civilian driver and wounding two people in the northeastern Sumy region.

Moscow said Kyiv had launched about two dozen drones targeting western Russia

Headline

US Comedian Reggie Carroll Shot Dead In Mississippi

Published

2 days ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

A United States comedian, Reginald “Reggie” Carroll, has been shot dead in Southaven, Mississippi.

The 52-year-old Carroll, widely known as the Knockout King of Comedy, was reportedly killed on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.

The Southaven Police Department confirmed the incident in a Facebook statement on Saturday.

“Southaven officers located one male victim suffering from gunshot wounds.

“The officers and medical personnel provided life saving techniques but the individual succumbed to his injuries,” the statement partly read.

The victim was later identified as Carroll, a Baltimore native.

Police said one suspect was arrested and charged with his murder.

“One male is in custody and has been charged with the murder of Reginald Carroll.

“Our thoughts are with the family of Mr. Carroll.

“Thank you to the community for their patience and understanding,” the department added.

The police further assured that there was no ongoing threat to residents, describing the case as “an isolated shooting.”

Carroll, who built his career in stand-up comedy, gained national recognition touring with Katt Williams and headlining his own showcase, Knockout Kings of Comedy.

He also featured in the 2000 edition of Showtime at the Apollo, appeared on the UPN sitcom The Parkers alongside Mo’Nique and Countess Vaughn, and starred in the 2022 television film Rent & Go.

In 2023, he produced the stand-up special Knockout Kings of Comedy.

The Southaven Police Department disclosed that an investigation into his death is ongoing.