Who be Jimmy 'Barbecue' Chérizier, di powerful Haiti gang lord wey dey face US charges?

BBC News

16 hours ago

US federal prosecutors don announce criminal charges against Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier wey be di Haitian gang leader wey dey lead joinbodi of gangs wey dey control most of Port-au-Prince.
Di charges accuse oga Cherizer togeda wit US citizen Bazile Richardson, 48 say dem get money from di Haitian diaspora community for di US to help pay gang members and buy firearms wey go against US sanctions.
Oga Cherizier wey don lost inside Haiti dey lead di group Viv Ansanm (Live Togeda). Di US dey offer $5m (£3.7m) for information wey go lead to im arrest.
Di group dey accused of plenti killings, kidnappings and attacks for infrastructure.
If dem arrest Cherizier, e fit dey extradited to US. Howeva, e still get ogbonge power for streets and dey protected by im group members.
So who be Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier and how di former policeman don get dis much power?
Im street and social media cred
Chérizier don position imself as one of di main pesin for di wave of gang kasala wey just dey burst for Haiti for recent years.
Di goment don declare state of emergency bicos of di gang kasala wey dey burst for Haiti for recent years taya. Di latest one start for 9 August wey cover plenti parts of di kontri and dey expected to last for three months.
Since dem kill President Jovenel Moïse for July 2021, Chérizier don hype revolution against di pipo wey e call di kontri corrupt political elite.
Bifor dem kill am, President Moïse bin assign Ariel Henry as im prime minister.
Gang leaders demand di resignation of Henry, who bin dey unelected, wey make am announce say e go step down for March last year.
Henry bin dey replaced by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé for November 2024.
Di kontri now dey under transitional presidential council, and no presidential elections don hapun for di kontri since 2016, wen Moïse bin dey elected.
For August, businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr bin dey appointed to be di oga of di council. To ansa, Chérizier do video message tell di public to help im group to reach di council office "for di kasala to free di kontri".
For im rise to power, Chérizier don effectively use social networks to give im message out and attract followers to im armed joinbodi.
For interview for im YouTube channel, e tok about di importance of social networks.
Chérizier tok say, "I thank di pipo wey create dis technologies. Technology today give us di opportunity to sell ourselves to di public. I no dey sell lies. I be who I be. I no do 99% of wetin dem tok say I do... Technology na im allow me to defend myself."
One topic wey Chérizier feel di need to defend imself about na how e get di name "Barbecue".
For interview wit di AP news agency for 2019, e say dem call am like dat bicos im mama bin dey sell chicken for street, say no be bicos of accuse say e dey burn pipo.
According to di United States and di United Nations Security Council, Chérizier don cause serious human rights violations and both Washington and di UN don sama am wit sanctions.
As di oga of di collabo of nine of di most dangerous criminal joinbodi for one of di most lawless kontris for di world, Chérizier now dey seen by many as Haiti most powerful gang leader.
But e start for di oda side of di law.
E bin work bifor for di Departmental Crowd Control Unit of Haiti National Police, wey dem dey deploy for riots or protests till dem sack am for December 2018.
Haitian Authorities accuse Chérizier say e become gang leader for di improvished Lower Delmas neighbourhood wia dem born am and dem organise large-scale massacres wey hapun for di nearby slums of Grand Ravine for 2017, La Saline for 2018 and Be-Air for 2019. But Chérizier don deny all di accuse.
Dem kill at least nine civilians for Grand Ravine during operation wey start as anti gang raid. Haitian police officers wey include Chérizier raid one school campus to find weapons, dis na according to internal inquiry wey di Haitian goment do.
Officers wey dey wit di United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti wey follow di Haitian police and help plan di operation bin tanda outside.
Some months later, Susan D. Page, den di oga of di UN mission for Haiti drop statement wey ask for di Haitian authorities to investigate "allegations of human rights violations by units for di Haitian National Police".
Di following year, anoda 71 pipo bin dey killed, 11 women bin dey raped, and 150 houses bin dey destroyed for La Saline and at least 24 pipo bin dey killed for Bel-Air for 2019. Dis na according to report wey dem publish for Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic.
For June 2020, Chérizier announce for im YouTube channel say e don organise new collabo wey dem call "G9 Family and Allies".
At first, e dey made up of nine gangs from Cité Soleil, La Saline and lower Delmas, but dem don grow to get ova a dozen gangs, na wetin UN Security Council report tok.
One Harvard report accuse G9 Family and Allies say dem kill at least 145 and rape plenti women for di middle of 2020 "to fit claim areas wey rivals wey get links to Moïse political opponents dey hold", wey be wetin Harvard report.
Di report add say "residents believe say dem target dem bicos of dia political affiliations, to fit gada electoral support for (Moïse) and im party. G9 reportedly dey enjoy ties for both di Moïse administration and (Haiti National Police)."
Haiti National Human Rights Defense Network don repeat di accuse and claim say na local police dey protect Chérizier.
For December 2020, di US Treasury Department wey issue civil sanctions against Chérizier and odas wey pipo reason say dey involved for di massacres, say di gangs kill victims wey include children, "and den drag dem enta street, burn dia bodi, cut dem and feed dem give animals".
Chérizier don deny say e get hand for di massacres plenti times, e say e be community leader wey dey help residents and dey lead "army revolution", e come add say e go "put guns for pikin hand if we need to" to fight system of inequality and di elites wey dey control am.
E tell AP say, "I no go eva massacre pipo for di same social class wit me. I live for di ghetto. I sabi wetin ghetto life is."
Chérizier say im armed fight na to improve di living standards of di poor wey be house, food and clean water, and im gunmen dey give am plenti political ginger.
Pierre Esperance, wey be di director of di Haitian non-governmental organisation (NGO) National Network for di Defense of Human Rights, tell BBC Mundo for 2021 say "criminal gangs dey beta equipped dan police and get protection of authorities".
But di killing of President Möise for 2021 na im be di breaking point for Chérizier organisation. Dis na wetin di international analysts like di portal Insight crime (wey be foundation wey dey study organised crime for di Americas) tok, bicos e make am lose govment protection.
Show of force
Chérizier dey show imself as political leader, dey hold news conferences, lead marches for di violent capital and dey regularly use social media take ginger im influence.
Yvens Rumbold from di Policité think-tank for Haiti tell The Washington Post, "di bandits go neva dey as powerful as dem be for Haiti without social media".
Chérizier use im YouTube account to announce di creation of di G-9 and demand say make di police arrest di former prime minister, and e call for di kontri to dey taken ova to remove di current ruling class for X wey dem bin call Twitter bifor.
Meanwhile, for TikTok, examples of personalities from oda gang leaders to rappers wey dey spread gang ideas and send messages about wetin dey hapun for di street of Port-au-Prince dey.
But di physical expression of im power for street also dey shocking.
Cherizier gang block di den Prime Minster Ariel Henry wey take over after Moise death from placing flowers for di late president monument as dem shoot in di air
But di gang leader wear white wit im men by im side, go drop wreath of flowers for di monument for extraordinary demonstration of force.
Im gang alliance don dey accused by Haitian authorities for organising fuel blockade for 2022 wey paralyse di kontri for almost two moths to put pressure for Henry govment.
Di gasoline shortage worsen di humanitarian situation for Haiti.
Na Chérizier announce imself say e dey lift blockade for 6 November 2022.
Im G-9 gang don also fight bloody war wit G-Pèp, wey be rival group and tori be say dem dey linked to parties wey oppose di assassinated President Moïse, according to Insight Crime.
Shooting and turf battles don turn normal tin wit di two groups and e don spread from di poorest communities go central Port-au-Prince.
Tori comot say G-9, G-Pèp bin get truce for late 2023, but fighting still dey go on between di gangs plus including di police and vigilante groups wey start bicos of lack of state protection and force thousands of pipo to run comot dia houses.
For recent months, one UN backed Kenyan led security force bin fail to get back control of di Haitian capital.
Meanwhile, di humanitarian kasala for di kontri don enta new level. UN report say about 5.7 million pipo, wey be more dan half of Haiti population, dey face serious food insecurity and dia be ova one million IDPs.
Additional reporting by Guillermo D. Olmo, Cecilia Barría and Vanessa Buschschlüter.