‘I was in shock’: Central Florida reacts to Haiti president’s assassination

ORLANDO, Fla. — There’s more unrest in Haiti following President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination Wednesday morning.

Before he was killed, there were protests against him. Now, the fear is there could be continued unrest and a potential political vacuum.

There are hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in Florida. At the Consulate of Haiti in Orlando, staff have been in and out of meetings, trying to figure out what’s next. Members of the Haitian community said they want answers and stability for the people of their country.

READ: Haiti in upheaval: President Moïse assassinated at home

Charles Dumay was born and raised in Haiti, and still has family there. He now lives in Orlando and runs the West Colonial Marathon and Gen Bagay restaurant. He’s concerned about his home country.

He first learned Moïse was assassinated Wednesday morning.

“I was in shock; I couldn’t believe it,” Dumay said.

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Dr. Jeremey Levitt is a distinguished professor of international law at FAMU. He said this was a de facto coup and a shock, even though many people were protesting Moïse for staying in power.

“It’s a bad situation,” Levitt said. “We’re not sure quite frankly going forward; there’s a constitutional crisis, there’s a political crisis and there’s obviously a developmental crisis.”

Levitt said at this point the U.S. and the international community need to support the Haitian people.

”What the US needs to do is support a robust and fair election, we’ve done it several times, we’ve been involved in Haiti,” he said.

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A travel ban for Haiti is in place because the state department warns Americans there’s a threat of kidnapping crime, civil unrest and COVID-19.b

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