Senator Jean Marie Ralph Féthière after opening fire with his pistol. BBC/Reuters.
A senator in Haiti opened fire at protesters wounding an AP photojournalist. BBC. The journalist was hit in the face with bullet fragments. A security guard was also injured in the incident. The journalist was not severely injured but it is unknown what the status of the guard is. Senator Jean Marie Ralph Féthière claimed that he was defending himself from the crowd and that he had a right to self defense. Another senator said that he had issued a verbal warning before opening fire. The protests were about fuel shortages, inflation and corruption.
My Comment:
Though the day to day concerns of Haiti's government are of little concern to the rest of the world, I do think this was a crazy story. It's not every day where a sitting elected official shoots two people, including a journalist. It's bizarre to say the least.
Was it a good shooting? It's hard to tell. I am not expert of the laws of Haiti. I do know that they have mid tier gun laws. They have strict background checks and don't have as many freedoms as Americans. But they do have CCW permits and open carry. As for self defense laws, I haven't been able to find much information.
But in America would this have been a good shooting? Probably not. It didn't look like anyone was attacking the senator. There was some shouting and intimidation but it didn't look like anyone was armed or even charging the senator. Indeed, as soon as he drew his gun they started to run, right before he opened fire. Maybe pulling the gun was slightly justified, after all, we don't know what lead up to this moment, but I saw nothing that justified opening fire.
He also shot indiscriminately. He wasn't aiming at a threat he was just emptying his gun randomly. There was an extreme chance of an innocent person getting hurt and it looks like at least two people did get hurt. It didn't even look like warning shots as he wasn't shooting into the air, but shooting into the ground.
I also don't think that the senator feared for his life. If he did, he would have shot the threat, not indiscriminately. He would also would have avoided emptying his gun or would have reloaded after he did so. He may have been annoyed or even a little scared, but not so much that he should have opened fire.
Of course, my reading of the situation may be wrong. What he did might have been legal under Haiti's gun laws. I know in many non-American countries warning shots are allowed. I think this is a good reason why those laws are pretty dumb. You shouldn't fire unless you have a target and your life is in danger. The two innocent bystanders who got shot here are a good example of why those laws don't work. Even if what he did was legally allowed it was still morally wrong and uncalled for.
I also don't know if Senator Féthière will face any justice for this incident. I'm not familiar with the laws in Haiti so what he did may have been legal. And even if it isn't, Haiti is a notoriously corrupt country. He may very well get off with a warning or even less.
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