'Jimmy Cherizier has become one of Haiti's most feared and powerful figures'

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00:00 "We are fighting to topple the government of Ariel Henry, by any means necessary."

00:07 He's been trying to bring down the government for years, and could be getting close to achieving

00:12 his goal.

00:13 At 46 years old, gang leader Jimmy Chérizier has become one of Haïti's most feared and

00:19 powerful figures.

00:21 But the man who rarely appears without his automatic rifle wasn't always on the wrong

00:26 side of the law.

00:27 For 15 years, Chérizier worked as an officer of the Haïtian National Police Force.

00:34 But in 2018, he was fired over his alleged involvement in the massacre of civilians.

00:39 And by 2020, he had taken the reins of a powerful criminal alliance dubbed the G9 family, with

00:46 over a thousand men under his command.

00:49 Nicknamed "Barbecue" for his alleged tendency to burn his opponents alive, which he denies,

00:55 Chérizier has repeatedly claimed he was not a gangster, but a revolutionary fighting against

01:01 the elite.

01:02 "We are fighting against a system that allows rich people to make millions of dollars, while

01:09 the rest of us sleep with the pigs."

01:13 And for Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier, no one embodies the corrupt elite more than Haïtian

01:18 Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

01:21 In 2022, the G9 alliance blocked a major fuel terminal in the capital, piling pressure on

01:27 the government.

01:29 And in recent days, Chérizier's men led coordinated attacks against the airport, a police academy

01:35 and several prisons, freeing thousands of inmates.

01:39 The cop-turned-gang leader is now threatening to plunge the country into civil war if the

01:44 Prime Minister doesn't step down.

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