Haitian community in Chile demonstrates against death of migrant shot by police

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Haitian community of Chile has demonstrated this Wednesday in front of the police station of La Ligua, in Valparaiso, against the death by Carabineros [police officers] of Louis Gentil, a man of Haitian origin, in an incident that is being investigated by the Chilean Investigative Police.

In a message posted on social networks by the National Coordinator of Immigrants of Chile, which also participated in the rally, members of the group accused the force of “racism” and “police violence.”

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“What is it that encourages the criminal behavior of the Police that without any regard fires shots at a black person, at a Haitian person, at an immigrant person?” reads a statement distributed by the group on Facebook.

This Wednesday, the Coordinadora participated in a rally, together with various organizations and civil groups, in the country’s capital, Santiago, demanding “justice for Louis Gentil”.

The death of Gentil, 42 years old, by shots fired by a Carabineros agent occurred last Monday, when several agents came “for a subject who was threatening people and was also seen with a large machete,” according to the chief of the V zone of Carabineros, Edgard Jofré, in statements reported by the Chilean media ‘Diario U Chile’.

However, witnesses quoted by the Coordinadora de Inmigrantes claim that the shots were fired “without any provocation”.

Several local media have reported that Louis Gentil suffered from mental problems. The deputy of Convergencia Social Diego Ibáñez announced that his group would “officially notify the Carabineros to know if they have effectively complied with the protocols of action of the public security forces.”

“It is the failure of the Chilean mental health system, of the actions of Carabineros and respect for human rights. Without mental health, the most impoverished population is dragged into situations of maximum violence. Worse if you are a migrant,” Ibanez wrote on his Twitter account.

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