Haiti ambassador: "No doubt" president's assassins had inside help
08 July 2021
The assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was carried out by foreigners, but "there is no doubt" that they had internal help, Haiti's ambassador to the U.S. Bocchit Edmond told CNN Thursday morning.
State of play: Four suspects were killed by police on Wednesday and another two were arrested in association with the attack, according to Haitian officials.
- Interim prime minister Claude Joseph announced Wednesday that he had declared a two-week “état de siège” — a state of siege — and urged Haitians to remain calm as he called for an international investigation.
- Moïse's wife, Martine Moïse, who was critically wounded from gunshot wounds, was flown to Miami for treatment, AP reports.
What they're saying: "The most important thing is we need to continue with the investigations and look and identify those who financed them, those who paid them to commit this horrible act," Edmond said.
- He declined to speculate on a potential motive for the attack while the investigation is ongoing, but said "it's certain that the head of state cannot be killed just for play."
- "We do hope that the national police will continue to hunt them down because possibly there were more than six," Edmond said of potential suspects involved in the assassination. "We are trying to see how we can make sure that those are caught and identified and be brought to justice."
The big picture: The future of Haiti, which had already been reeling from a political crisis and spiking inflation and gang violence, is highly uncertain. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with acting Prime Minister Joseph on Wednesday and extended U.S. support for Haiti, but it's unclear whether Joseph will remain in power long-term.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.