PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Police pledged Wednesday to crack down on unrelenting gang violence that has paralyzed swaths of Haiti’s capital, and pleaded with Haitians to end a string of grisly vigilante killings.
The appeal came after an angry crowd on Monday killed at least 13 suspected gang members who police had arrested, with video and pictures shared on social media suggesting that an even greater number since then have died after being stoned and set on fire.
“If anyone hears anything, please advise the police,” Garry Desrosiers, spokesman for Haiti’s National Police, said at a news conference. “Do not take justice into your own hands.”
Desrosiers said police are mobilized and that anti-gang operations will continue as he urged people to contact police if they see unusual activity or people they don’t recognize in their neighborhoods.