United Nation’s peacekeeping forces have been accused of shooting and killing an unidentified man at protests stemming from the funeral of Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste Wednesday in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Jean-Juste, 62, a close ally of exiled former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and head of the Miami-based Center for Haitian Refugees died earlier this month in Miami from complications from a stroke and respiratory problems. U.N. peacekeepers reportedly fired seven warning shots into a crowd of 2,000 mourners who were protesting the policies of President Rene Preval’s government and demanding the return of former-President Aristide from exile in South Africa.
One of these shots may have fatally wounded one of the rioters. The U.N., which confirms that warning shots were fired but denies responsibility in the incident, says that it was a hit from a rock—and not a bullet—that led to the victim’s death. Official fear this may lead to country-wide riots in days leading up to Senate elections on June 21.
