Tag: Violent incident

Haiti gang opens fire on pastor-led march, kills several

Protesters led by a pastor marched through a gang-controlled area near the capital. Rights groups reporting on the incident blamed the pastor for leading protesters into such a dangerous situation.

Some of the protesters marching against the gang carried machetesImage: Odelyn Joseph/AP Photo/picture alliance

A powerful gang in Haiti opened fire on a pastor-led march through an area controlled by the gang near the capital Port-au-Prince, killing several of the marching parishioners.

The gang, which controls the northern Canaan suburb, fired at the protesters with machine guns. Local rights group CARDH said at least seven people were killed, with the group’s director Gedeon Jean expecting the death toll to rise.

Jean said that several people were wounded, with some churchgoers even kidnapped.

What do we know about the march?
Videos shared on social media showed some 100 people marching in Canaan. Many of the protesters donned yellow shirts associated with Pastor Marco’s religious group, while some were seen carrying sticks and machetes.

Journalists at the scene filmed the attack on the march in real time, Marie Yolène Gilles, director of human rights group Fondasyon Je Klere, told The Associated Press.

Unverified videos on social media showed people who appear to be hostages saying they thought the march was peaceful and were unaware it addressed the gang.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/haiti-gang-opens-fire-on-pastor-led-march-kills-several/a-66640274

Gunman kills three people in ‘racially motivated’ shooting in Florida

Black people were targeted by a ‘white man in his early 20s’ in a store in Jacksonville.

A gun painted with swastikas. Pic: Action News Jax 2

Three black people have been killed in a “racially motivated” shooting in Florida.

Two men and one woman were shot dead in a Dollar General store in Jacksonville by a man in his early 20s in what the mayor has called a “hate-filled crime”.

Jacksonville’s sheriff said the suspect, an unidentified white man in his 20s, “targeted black people” in the shooting before killing himself.

“Plainly put, this shooting was racially motivated and he hated black people,” Sheriff T K Waters said at a news conference.

Sheriff Waters said the gunman used a Glock handgun and an AR-15 style rifle emblazoned with swastikas during his killing spree which occurred shortly before 2pm local time.

Residents talk with Jacksonville police officers near the scene. Pic: AP

The gunman reportedly left several manifestos littered with racial epithets detailing his hatred of black people.

Sheriff Waters added there was no indication that the attacker was part of a larger group.

He had driven from neighbouring Clay County and had sent his father a text message telling him to check his computer.

The father found the writings and the family called 911, but the shooting had already begun.

Earlier, Mayor Donna Deegan told WJXT “there are a number of fatalities” inside the store but did not give a precise number.

Numerous police officers were in the area near Edward Waters University, a small historically black university.

“This is unacceptable,” Ms Deegan told the station. “One shooting is too much but these mass shootings are really hard to take.”

Jacksonville City Council member Ju’Coby Pittman told the station the gunman is dead. She did not give further details.

“My heart is heavy. I am tired of all of the shootings,” she said.

Sherri Onks, the special agent in charge of the Jacksonville FBI office, said federal officials had opened a civil rights investigation and would pursue the incident as a hate crime.

“Hate crimes are always and will always remain a top priority for the FBI because they are not only an attack on a victim, they’re also meant to threaten and intimidate an entire community,” Ms Onks said.

Source:https://news.sky.com/story/three-people-killed-in-racially-motivated-shooting-in-florida-12948644

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