How a Fired Cop Became the Infamous Super Gang Boss Called ‘Barbecue’ Who ‘Burns Victims Alive’ in the World’s Most Dangerous City
Haiti’s capital descends into all-out civil war, and in the eye of the storm is a former police officer who goes by “Barbecue.”
Jimmy Chérizier, the most powerful gang boss in the world City of Port-au-Prince affected by the disastertakes to the streets with new vengeance and a plan to overthrow the government.
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The fired cop turned warlord heads the city’s most fearsome gang coalition, known as the ‘Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies’ – or G9 for short.
It contains a collection of at least a dozen of the two hundred ruthless gangs that control up to 90 percent of the city.
Together with his armed loyal fighters, Barbecue has contributed to tearing the city apart for yearsinflicting terror, sexual violence, torture and lawlessness.
But since Thursday he has one new vicious wave of coordinated attacks within Port-au-Prince that have caused unimaginable scenes of violence.
Dozens have been killed, two prisons have been emptied, more than 4,000 dangerous prisoners are at large and anti-government riots have swept the city.
A state of emergency has been declared and Haiti’s minimal police force is trying to contain the worst of the violence sweeping through the capital.
But who is the one man at the center of all the bloodshed?
Barbecue – who reportedly earned his nickname for setting his victims on fire – sees himself as a “revolutionary,” a self-declared “man of the people.”
However, his methods include killing, maiming and extorting anyone unlucky enough to fall into his grasp, making every day a constant battle for the residents’ survival.
The former elite police officer is accused of directing numerous large-scale massacres in Port-au-Prince’s poorest neighborhoods.
He is currently being sanctioned by Britain and its allies for “engaging in acts that threaten the peace, security and stability of Haiti.”
And his influence is growing rapidly as the country plunges into further unrest, sparked by the 2021 assassination of Prime Minister Jovenal Moïse.
A security vacuum has since emerged and Barbecue has eagerly exploited this, taking over territory and expanding its coalition with other gangs to wage further war.
The G9 has also been responsible for repeatedly cutting off Haiti’s much-needed fuel supply by holding its main oil terminal hostage.
In a brutal show of force, Barbecue has paralyzed the country several times by preventing the distribution of food, water and essential medicines, plunging the country into a deeper humanitarian crisis.
Massacres of the past
Born near one of the city’s worst slums, La Saline, Barbecue was one of eight children, whose father died when he was five.
He still insists that his nickname was not inspired by his brutal methods, but because his mother is a street vendor of fried chicken.
He joined the Haitian National Police in his late teens and rose to become an elite unit.
In 2017, he took part in an alleged anti-gang operation that led to the deaths of nine innocent civilians.
And while he was still active as a police officer, in 2018 Barbecue presided over one of the country’s worst massacres in a decade in his old neighborhood.
The four-day massacre in the La Saline slum resulted in 71 deaths.
Barbecue was fired from the police force a month later and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Haitian officials were later implicated in the attack after it emerged that they had financed and aided the gangs.
Barbecue evaded capture and took part in another massacre in the Bel-Air neighborhood in November 2019, burning houses and killing at least 24 people.
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But the Cité Soleil slum has become the main battleground of Port-au-Prince’s urban war.
In 2004, the UN called it “the most dangerous place on earth”. Today it’s even worse.
This neighborhood is a slum of tin and violence and is home to a quarter of a million people. The police hardly dare to enter and all government services are closed.
Flanked on either side by the powerful and warring G-9 and G-PEP coalitions, fighting regularly breaks out in the cramped streets and death is a daily reality.
From May to July 2020, Barbecue – with alleged help from government officials – organized simultaneous attacks in the Cité Soleil slum during the election period.
It led to the brutal murders of 145 people who were shot and burned, the destruction of 98 homes and the mass rape of women.
And in July 2022, 470 people were killed in Cité Soleil during ten days of violent clashes as the G9 coalition tried to expand their control over their slum. As they traveled, they raped, murdered and burned houses.
According to the UN, Haiti’s National Police has just 9,000 “overworked, underequipped and outnumbered” officers to provide security for more than 11 million people.
They are routinely overwhelmed and outmaneuvered by the powerful gangs.
Last year, the UN said more than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence last year, including murders, kidnappings and sexual violence, doubling the numbers in 2022.
New attacks
Barbecue now has its eyes and all its balaclava-clad, motorcycle-riding gangsters set on overthrowing the government of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
“All of us, the armed groups in the provincial cities and the armed groups in the capital, are united,” said the former police officer.
He has called for coordinated attacks to oust interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry and also to capture Haiti’s police chief.
Henry replaced Moïse in July 2021, but no elections have taken place since 2016 and the presidency technically remains vacant.
The politician was due to step down on February 7, but planned elections were not held and he remained in office.
In response, Barbecue is taking people to the streets to support his attempt to forcibly depose Henry and launch bolder attacks on state institutions.
He has already claimed responsibility for his fighters’ storming of Haiti’s main prison on Saturday and another on Sunday, freeing another 1,400 prisoners.
Henry has rejected calls to resign – despite repeatedly postponing elections – and made no comment when asked if he felt it was safe to come home.
He had traveled to Nairobi on Thursday to discuss whether the UN would send a Kenyan-led multinational security force to help Haiti, sparking an uptick in violence.
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