One of Haiti's Most Notorious Gang Leaders Faces US Charges

A notorious Haitian gang leader known as "Barbecue" is now facing criminal charges in the US. On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced its grand-jury indictment against Jimmy Cherizier, accusing the 48-year-old and American Bazile Richardson (aka Leo Danger), also 48, of cajoling money out of members of the Haitian diaspora in the US to give to gang members and purchase guns in violation of US sanctions, reports the BBC. Cherizier helms the Viv Ansanm (Live Together) gang, which has been tied to attacks on local infrastructure, kidnappings, and murders and been designated by the US as a foreign terror organization.

Especially of note: a 2018 massacre in the La Saline neighborhood of Port-au-Prince in which dozens were killed, women were raped, and hundreds of homes were destroyed, which Cherizier was linked to. "He's a gang leader responsible for heinous human rights abuses, including violence against American citizens in Haiti," US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said at a Tuesday presser. The AP has more on his history as an elite police officer until he was fired in 2018, and of his background organizing mass killings, which he has long denied. The US is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to Cherizier's arrest; if arrested, he could be extradited to the US.