White House offers condolences after Haiti president and first lady assassinated
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has offered the Biden administration's condolences to Haiti after President Jovenel Moise and First Lady Martine Moise were attacked in their home.
In a Wednesday interview with CNN, Psaki called the assassination a "tragic tragedy" and a "horrific crime," and declared that the White House is "sorry for the loss that they are all suffering and going through."
Psaki also added that the US was ready and available "to provide any assistance that's needed," and revealed during a separate interview with MSNBC that President Joe Biden would be fully briefed on the incident later in the day.
President Moise was pronounced dead at the scene while his wife was taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds. Information emerged that she was pronounced dead as well. Later in the day Haiti's ambassador to the United States said she was "stable, but in critical condition," according to Reuters.
The president and first lady were reportedly attacked at around 1am on Wednesday by "a group of unidentified individuals, some of whom spoke in Spanish." Haitian news outlet Le Louverture went on to identify one of the assassins as Colombian, however this is currently unconfirmed.
Also on rt.com Haitian President Jovenel Moise assassinated at home during the night, wife injured by gunshot – PMHaiti's Prime Minister Claude Joseph condemned the "odious, inhuman and barbaric act" in a statement, and called on Haitians to be calm, claiming that measures were being taken "to guarantee the continuity of the state and protect the nation" and that "democracy and the Republic will win."
Neighbor the Dominican Republic has allegedly responded to Moise's assassination by ordering the closure of its borders with Haiti and ramping up surveillance.
In a viral video which seemingly showed the armed men outside of Moise’s residence on Wednesday morning, a person could be heard shouting in what sounded like an American accent, “DEA operation! Everybody stand down! DEA operation! Everybody back up, stand down!”
Unnamed sources told the New York Post, however, that the men were not employed by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The men behind the attack are believed to have been mercenaries.
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