Mourners bury journalist killed in one of Haiti’s worst attacks on reporters

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AP) — Anger mixed with tears at the burial Thursday of one of the two journalists killed in an attack last month by armed gangs while covering the government’s abortive attempt to reopen Haiti’s largest public hospital.

Jimmy Jean wore an all-white suit as he lay in an open coffin that friends and family leaned over to pay their respects, some crying over his body. The 44-year-old father of six children had covered daily news for the online news outlet Moun Afe Bon. “You left us real young,” Jean’s stepmother kept repeating as she left the church, sobbing quietly. On Christmas Eve, Jean was gunned down when gangs opened fire on police, government officials and journalists gathered for the anticipated reopening of the General Hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince. Also killed were fellow journalist Marckendy Natoux, who worked for Voice of America in Haiti, and a Haitian police officer. At least seven other reporters were wounded in Haiti’s worst attack on journalists in recent years.

The attack prompted officials to remove the health minister and indefinitely suspend the reopening of the hospital. Police have continued to try to repel attacks from armed gangs in the downtown area around the facility. Journalists are demanding compensation from the government beyond the money families have received to bury the two reporters killed.