Police Kills a Young Haitian

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donP

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Dec 14, 2008
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Trigger Happy?

In my eyes it is one thief less to worry about.

Dear 'Rat',
We do not know whether the victim really was a thief.
In fact it is unlikely, at 7 a.m. many Haitians are on their way to work...
In this case the police obviously was not confronted and IMO there was no need to kill. :disappoin

donP
 

gringobachata7

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More likely, he was Haitian in the Dominican Republic where most people hate Haitians. He was almost like a Mexican who was in Texas or a young black man in Florida near Zimmerman or something like that. It was racism. Ok, at least the truth was said. Yes, it does sicken me what happened. He did not need to die if he was unarmed.
 

bob saunders

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gringobachata7 writes: More likely, he was Haitian in the Dominican Republic where most people hate Haitians. He was almost like a Mexican who was in Texas or a young black man in Florida near Zimmerman or something like that. It was racism. Ok, at least the truth was said. Yes, it does sicken me what happened. He did not need to die if he was unarmed---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A lot of assumptions. You may be correct or you may be entirely wrong. Most Dominican don't hate Haitians either, certainly not the ones I known.
 

Eddy

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Dear 'Rat',
We do not know whether the victim really was a thief.
In fact it is unlikely, at 7 a.m. many Haitians are on their way to work...
In this case the police obviously was not confronted and IMO there was no need to kill. :disappoin

donP
When the police shot him, he had just broken into a local restaurant owner's house where he was disturbed by the owner. He ran out and and was "Shot" while trying to break in to a second home. He was in possesion of a large butcher knife that he had stolen from the first home. He lived with a group of Haitians nearby. Hope it sets an example and scares the others off. No pity from me. Kudos to the cops.
 

ctrob

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Nov 9, 2006
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More likely, he was Haitian in the Dominican Republic where most people hate Haitians. He was almost like a Mexican who was in Texas or a young black man in Florida near Zimmerman or something like that. It was racism.
When you throw that word around without any knowledge of what really happenend (in any of those cases) all you do is keep it alive and well in society.

Sure, racism does exist. But you should get the facts first.
 
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Police are trigger happy in the DR. I remember one day I was taking a nap and was woken up by about 5 shots which sounded like they came from my neighbor's house. When I went to look on the street a couple of lots down the cops were rounding up Haitians and one of them had ran away. The reason that they were rounded up was because the cops needed the Haitians to do some construction work on their cuartel and the guy they were shooting at was not going to work for free. Luckily they didn't hit him and nobody else either, there were a lot of kids around.
 

gringobachata7

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Just my opinion, you have a right to yours, I do respect that. I just think there is a lot of racism towards haitians in the DR and a haitian is more likely to get shot than anyone else but I could be wrong and I respect your opinion. It just seems suspect to me everytime a Haitian is shot in the DR by the DR police. Maybe I am wrong.
 

gringobachata7

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I just see the pieces even though I could be wrong. Many Dominicans are hostile towards Haitians. The national police does not always act professional and often shoots first and asks questions later. Haitians are often unfairly thrown on the bottom of the pecking, economic and social order and on the receiving end due to racism just like blacks and latinos are often thrown in the USA. I could be wrong but I think it was racism. Maybe I am biased because I have seen many Dominicans want to beat up or attack Haitians and say they are bad people in front of me. I have also heard many horror stories about them from local dominicans as if they are demons or monsters and not regular people.
 

zoomzx11

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Jan 21, 2006
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From Eddy's post he sounds kind of guilty in this case.
Many Dominicans dislike Haitians intensely and the police are more likely to shoot first and ask questions later if the target is black. I dont think we are talking about people you know. Its a general statement but unlike many generalizations this one is true. The Dominicans tolerate a certain number of Haitians because they perfom hard labor jobs otherwise they would round them up and truck them back to Haiti tomorrow. Just my opinion. Not trying to state facts here. Its what I have seen living in the DR.
 

gringobachata7

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It is not a black or white think like the USA. There are many black Dominicans and black mixed with native indian and white or just black. They just listen for the accent when talking, look at the type of clothes and many of them can sniff out a Haitian from a mile away and from what I have seen, as soon as they see they are Haitian there is a problem but no the DR is not like the USA where everything is black or white. They are more sophisticated than that. They are Dominican or non dominican. Foreigners are cool although Dominicans like other latinos and mixed people like themselves more. But Haitian, from what I have seen that is when there is an uncomfortable divide from what I have seen.
 

donP

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Police Justice Done?

When the police shot him, he had just broken into a local restaurant owner's house where he was disturbed by the owner. He ran out and and was "Shot" while trying to break in to a second home. He was in possesion of a large butcher knife that he had stolen from the first home. He lived with a group of Haitians nearby. Hope it sets an example and scares the others off. No pity from me. Kudos to the cops.

You seem to have more detailed information.

I had only read the newspaper report and that said the Haitian had intended to rob at a house, was then chased by the police and shot several times when he "penetrated" the yard of a (another) home.

In my view the police overreacted (to say the least) because when they killed the Haitian he had not done such a horrible crime to be killed on the spot.

donP
 

Kipling333

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Jan 12, 2010
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The way the justice system works here is that the police know most of the robbers in their area and if they catch them in the act , then they are often shot ...rough justice but it is the way things are ..I do not think innocent people are killed and these robbers know the risks they are taking .If the court system was better I may be more outraged ..
 

Seamonkey

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Oct 6, 2009
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More likely, he was Haitian in the Dominican Republic where most people hate Haitians. He was almost like a Mexican who was in Texas or a young black man in Florida near Zimmerman or something like that. It was racism. Ok, at least the truth was said. Yes, it does sicken me what happened. He did not need to die if he was unarmed.

What???? none of the people I know hate Haitians.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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The way the justice system works here is that the police know most of the robbers in their area and if they catch them in the act , then they are often shot ...rough justice but it is the way things are ..I do not think innocent people are killed and these robbers know the risks they are taking .If the court system was better I may be more outraged ..

Yes, that is how it is here. And if citizens catch them, they are likely to kill them, too, out of frustration with the justice system.
 

jaiallen

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What???? none of the people I know hate Haitians.

Having lived in the country for almost five years on and off, I have seen cruel things happen to Haitians, including one tossed off the Gua Gua just after he paid his fare, for no reason whatsoever, and the entire bus except my Dominican wife and myself, rolling in laughter at the antics of the collectors. I don't know what the underlying issues are, and I try not to get involved. I don't hear anything positive about them from my perspective, and that's from living in a house full of Dominicans. I think my father in law who works there is the only one who doesn't have anything negative to say, but most of the rest of my wife's family, uncles , aunts, sisters, brothers, cousins, all have no love for them, and almost every time they're together and a Haitian walks past, ( Santiago ) or there's some type of interaction with them, it's always negative responses on their part.

I know some colmados in certain parts of Santiago wont even sell to Haitians and send them elsewhere. Some gua gua drivers will pass Haitians by. I only speak on what I have seen or heard.
 

jaiallen

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And if someone asks, how does the gua gua driver distinguish a Haitian from a dark skinned Dominican? It's pretty easy, because of the habit of wearing baskets or carrying something on their heads, Haitians tend to walk erect the curvature of the spine makes a difference when carrying weight on your head and any curvature effects your balance, which is why most Haitians and Africans who practice this walk more erect than most others.
 

bob saunders

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Having lived in the country for almost five years on and off, I have seen cruel things happen to Haitians, including one tossed off the Gua Gua just after he paid his fare, for no reason whatsoever, and the entire bus except my Dominican wife and myself, rolling in laughter at the antics of the collectors. I don't know what the underlying issues are, and I try not to get involved. I don't hear anything positive about them from my perspective, and that's from living in a house full of Dominicans. I think my father in law who works there is the only one who doesn't have anything negative to say, but most of the rest of my wife's family, uncles , aunts, sisters, brothers, cousins, all have no love for them, and almost every time they're together and a Haitian walks past, ( Santiago ) or there's some type of interaction with them, it's always negative responses on their part.

I know some colmados in certain parts of Santiago wont even sell to Haitians and send them elsewhere. Some gua gua drivers will pass Haitians by. I only speak on what I have seen or heard.

My Dominican wife speak passable French and she tries to engage Haitians in conversation, although only the educated ones understand French well. In Jarabacoa, in our neighbourhood, most the Haitians there have been there for a number of years. They speak Spanish and are well behaved, clean, and generally peaceful. There doesn't appear to be much animosity between them and the locals. My observations.
 
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