U.S. lawmakers on Haiti: U.S. ready to help with security after Moïse’s assassination

Soldiers patrol in Petion Ville, the neighborhood where the late Haitian President Jovenel Moise lived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 7, 2021. Mose was assassinated in an attack on his private residence early Wednesday, and first lady Martine Mose was shot in the overnight attack and hospitalized, according to a statement from the countrys interim prime minister. (AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn) (Joseph Odelyn, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

MIAMI – Rep. Frederica Wilson asked Claude Joseph, Haiti’s acting prime minister, Wednesday to send a request to U.S. President Joe Biden for additional security enforcement.

Wilson released a statement saying she was shocked after learning Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was killed and First Lady Martine Moïse was injured.

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“I also urge the Haitian people to remain calm during this international crisis and come together to save their nation,” Wilson wrote.

Presidential guards patrol the entrance to the residence of late Haitian President Jovenel Moise in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 7, 2021. Mose was assassinated in an attack on his private residence early Wednesday, and first lady Martine Mose was shot in the overnight attack and hospitalized, according to a statement from the countrys interim prime minister. (AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Sen. Marco Rubio, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, released a statement asking Biden to help the Haitian National Police.

“We cannot allow this cowardly, evil attack to bring even more hardship to the people of Haiti and further destabilize their country,” Rubio wrote.

Rep. Andy Levin, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is the co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus. He released a statement saying the president’s murder was a result of the international community’s inaction to support a Haitian-led democratic transition.

“For months, violent actors have terrorized the Haitian people with impunity,” Levin said.

Ammunition casings lay on the ground near the entrance to the house of late Haitian President Jovenel Moise in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 7, 2021. Mose was assassinated in an attack on his private residence early Wednesday, and first lady Martine Mose was shot in the overnight attack and hospitalized, according to a statement from the countrys interim prime minister. (AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Levin, and Reps. Val Demmings, Yvette Clarke, and Ayanna Pressley, members of the House Haiti Caucus, issued a joint statement saying “swift and decisive action” is needed for an “equitable, inclusive Haitian-led democracy” that “reestablishes rule of law, reinforces institutions of Haitian-led governance, and centers the safety and human rights of every Haitian.”

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About the Author:

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.