'Barbeque' Cherizier: the gang leader seeking to topple Haiti's government

FILE PHOTO: Former police officer Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, leader of the 'G9' coalition, greets a boy while giving a press tour of the La Saline shanty area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti November 3, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo

(Reuters) - Deadly fighting between armed gangs and police escalated in Haiti this week, with gang alliance leader Jimmy Cherizier issuing a call to topple the unelected and largely absent government.

The 46-year-old Cherizier, alias "Barbeque," was formerly an officer of the Haitian National Police force. As a police officer, he is alleged by the United Nations to have played a role in multiple massacres, including the killing of over 70 people in 2018, when over 400 homes in the capital's La Saline neighborhood were set on fire.