Group of American vets detained in Haiti on weapons charges brought back to US, arrested upon landin

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Task & Purpose

Group of American vets detained in Haiti on weapons charges brought back to US, arrested upon landing
Paul Szoldra February 21, 2019 at 12:18 PM

A group comprised of former U.S. military veterans and security contractors who were detained in Haiti on weapons charges has been brought back to the United States and arrested upon landing, The Miami-Herald reported.

The men — five Americans, two Serbs, and one Haitian — were stopped at a Port-au-Prince police checkpoint on Sunday while riding in two vehicles without license plates. When questioned, the heavily-armed men told police they were on a "government mission" before being taken into custody.

Just days after their arrest, however, seven of the eight men were released from custody in Haiti before they were scheduled to show up to their first court appearance. They were whisked away to the United States on an American Airlines flight to Miami on Wednesday, where they were arrested upon landing, according to The Herald.

"The return of the individuals to the U.S. was coordinated with the Haitian authorities," a State Department spokesperson told Task & Purpose. The spokesperson declined to answer when asked if they were operating on a U.S. government contract in Haiti.

Read more: https://taskandpurpose.com/americans-detained-haiti

---

Americans arrested in Haiti driving around with an arsenal are flown to the U.S.
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

FEBRUARY 20, 2019 06:54 PM,

UPDATED 7 HOURS 52 MINUTES AGO

PORT-AU-PRINCE



A group of Americans arrested in Haiti driving around Port-au-Prince with an arsenal of weapons arrived back in the United States Wednesday night after failing to show up for their first court appearance before the Haitian justice system.

Upon their arrival in Miami aboard American Airlines flight 1059, U.S. law enforcement boarded the flight and handcuffed the men, according to a tweet from Haitian TV and radio personality Carel Pedre to his 223,600 followers at 8:25 p.m.

. . .

On board: former Navy Seal officers Christopher Michael Osman and Christopher Mark McKinley, and former Marine Veteran Kent Leland Kroeker as well as Americans Dustin Porte and Talon Ray Burton. All five U.S. citizens were among eight heavily armed men whom Haiti National Police arrested on Sunday afternoon at a police checkpoint in downtown Port-au-Prince.

. . .

No one would discuss the case on the record. But sources familiar with the negotiations said the U.S. government intervened and expressed concerns about the group’s safety following an interview by Prime Minister Jean Henry Céant with CNN in which he characterized the men as “mercenaries” and “terrorists.”

More:
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article226540230.html

[Firestorm49]

1. I'd like to know their intent.

Is this a sanctioned move that went wrong? Who is behind whatever the plot was? And why?

[Judi Lynn]

2. Found a Miami Herald article from 2 days ago:

Why were former members of the U.S. military driving around Haiti heavily armed?
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES AND

MONIKA LEAL

FEBRUARY 19, 2019 07:49 PM,

UPDATED FEBRUARY 20, 2019 09:34 AM

PORT-AU-PRINCE
Three are former U.S. military and a fourth once worked as a federal contractor for the U.S. government.

But what may have brought them to Haiti and put them together on a Port-au-Prince street remained a mystery Tuesday as Haitian police continued their investigation into the arrest of eight heavily armed men, including five Americans.

Christopher Michael Osman, Kent Leland Kroeker and Christopher Mark McKinley are all veterans, and are among the five Americans police arrested on Sunday afternoon, about a block from the country’s central bank in downtown Port-au-Prince. Riding in two vehicles, a Toyota Prado and Ford Pickup, without license plates, they were stopped at a police checkpoint and questioned.

Inside their vehicles: six automatic rifles, six pistols, two professional drones and three satellite phones, police told the Miami Herald.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article226475635.html

(Short article, no more at link.)

I'll keep looking for more. This is far more than it looks on the surface. An uprising has been going on in the country for a couple of days... not that it's any other country's business than Haiti's!

[nykym]

3. Can you saay

BLACK OPP?

[Judi Lynn]

5. I'm sure you're right!

SILENCE AS ARMED AMERICANS CAPTURED IN HAITI [OPINION]
BARRY RICHARDFebruary 21, 2019

Eight men including five Americans were arrested in Port-au-Prince, Haiti over the weekend and accused of being "terrorists" with plans to "target the executive branch of the government," according to Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant who called the men "mercenaries."

CNN quotes Haitian officials as saying the men were arrested following a traffic stop in the Haitian capital and were found to be in possession of a "cache of weapons (including) six pistols, six automatic rifles, two drones, five ballistic vests, three satellite phones, a telescope, and several license plates."

. . .

Haiti has been rocked by violent protests since February 7 as citizens continue to demand the resignations of both Ceant and President Jovenel Moise, who have been accused of corruption and doing nothing to ease Haiti's economic crisis. The U.S. State Department has issued a Level 4 "do not travel" travel advisory for Haiti, and American and Canadian citizens have been evacuated.

. . .

What were the Americans doing in Haiti in the first place and what "government mission" were they involved in? And for what government? Were they, in fact, looking to "target the executive branch of the government," as the Prime Minister suggests, and if so, why?

I hope someone in the media gets curious enough to begin asking questions, and that the Trump DOJ is ready to offer up some answers sometime soon.

http://wbsm.com/silence-as-armed-americans-captured-in-haiti-opinion/

(Maybe this makes Hump, situated behind his wall of BigMacs and Filets of Fish, Fries, and chocolate shakes feel more powerful, maybe imagining his part appearing in some future movie.)

[nykym]

6. Or maybe they are just

clearing space for a new tRump tower and amusment pak like the world has yet to see!

[Judi Lynn]

8. Omigod. An amusement park Trump would approve would be some kind of sadistic arrangement!

Maybe you could pay for a ticket to see someone get hit by a car, etc.

Maybe another one of those brilliant Biblical theme parks, with a giant Noah's Ark, like that dandy one on Kentucky. Everyone knows what a Bible lover Trump is, bless his heart. Never can have enough bible theme parks.

Of course Trump would love another tower, and maybe Jared could design one.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. It was a weird story much like this that turned into Watergate.

[Judi Lynn]

25. True! This does have weirdness going for it, for sure. n/t

[Achilleaze]

20. KGOP republican Latter Day Tonton Macoutes wannabees?

[Judi Lynn]

26. Sure sounds like it. They definitely weren't there for a friendly game of bean bag, were they?

For some reason, people trying to beat down the population have always chosen to use extreme violence, rather than persuasion, or honesty.

[RandiFan1290]

4. Been some strange stories out of Haiti in the last few months

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/haiti-massacre-port-au-prince-police-uniforms-gangs-united-nations-a8729876.html

Men in police uniforms ‘massacre’ unarmed civilians in Haiti

At least 21 people have been murdered in Haiti, after a group of men in uniform opened fire on unarmed residents in an impoverished neighbourhood.

The men arrived in Port-au-Prince, the country's capital, in a police truck, carrying machetes and guns.

They were accompanied by local gang members and went house to house, gathering up unarmed civilians who they then shot dead or killed with machete blows in alleyways.

[Judi Lynn]

7. This is horrendous. Haiti has a long history of militarized police, and mercenaries

controlling, and trying to terrorize the population into deep fear, going back to the days of Papa Doc Duvalier, a US favorite who used his TonTon Macoute men to brutalize, to maim, torture, mutilate, terrorize the population beyond all endurance, and before Papa Doc Duvalier, a former slave, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, was even worse, after the revolution against French slavery. The world apparently has never forgiven the enslaved population for the desperate revolution against the barbarous landowners, as the country has suffered torment and incredible poverty continually since then, which doesn't seem to bother the sweatshop owners, like the Disney Company (which moved a few years ago after too much attention for their slave wages), and others.

From Wikipedia:

Even by the standards of the Caribbean, the French slave masters were extremely cruel in their treatment of slaves.[18] They used the threat and acts of physical violence to maintain control and suppress efforts at slave rebellion. When slaves left the plantations or disobeyed their masters, they were subject to whipping, or to more extreme torture such as castration or burning, the punishment being both a personal lesson and a warning for other slaves. Louis XIV, the French King, passed the Code Noir in 1685 in an attempt to regulate such violence and the treatment of the enslaved person in general in the colony, but masters openly and consistently broke the code. During the 18th century, local legislation reversed parts of it.[23]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution

If Trump has sent covert people to butt in and help beat down the protest it wouldn't really be any kind of surprise at all.

Thank you for providing important information.

[pecosbob]

9. Word is the government hired these mercenaries to help quell protests

sounds like some of Erik Prince's boys to me. Whisked away at the airport and undoubtedly kicking back somewhere right now telling war stories about how many heads they blew off. Notice the conspicuous absence of this story in any major western media...

The weird thing is that different parts of the Haitian government don't seem to be on the same page.

[Judi Lynn]

17. I missed seeing your post earlier, until a minute ago. You are so RIGHT.

The absence of major Western media speaks very loudly, doesn't it?

Hadn't even thought of that, yet, but now you've mentioned it, it's impossible to forget. American mercenaries, taken from the Haitian police force, turned loose immediately in the States. Not a word from US corporate "news" media, yet, about what the hey this is all about. No one's even asking questions from this country.

[EX500rider]

10. Here's the latest:

Federal sources told the Miami Herald that the men will not be charged criminally, but are being debriefed. They told U.S. authorities they were on the island providing private security for a “businessman” doing work with the Haitian government.

[YOHABLO]

11. Perhaps they're employed by Eric Prince? His company is now call 'Academi' once 'Blackwater'.

[Judi Lynn]

12. No doubt there's a good chance they came from that organization.

Weren't they also called "Xe" or something similar for a while?

Fantastically primitive and obvious for Trump to give Prince's dufus sister a place in his "administration." (Freak show.)

[YOHABLO]

13. Yes, first "Blackwater'' then ''Xe'' now it's "Academi''. They hire x-military.

This entire administration is a freak show and the Republicans are making this country into a freak show.

[Judi Lynn]

16. They've succeeded. God knows how long it will take to heal the government. n/t

[Progressive Jones]

18. My friends' son worked for Blackwater.

His 8 years in the Marines ended while he was in Iraq. He went to work for Blackwater, providing heavily armed security for "VIPs" --businessmen, bankers, diplomats, and local pols. He left when shit hit the fan for Blackwater. He made big money. He paid cash for a pretty sweet house when he came back home...

[dixiegrrrrl]

24. He now heads the Frontier Services Group (FSG), based in Hong Kong.

The Chinese are gradually taking more control of the company, it is said

Good article here listing Prince's post Blackwater efforts to sell his mercenaries around the globe

2011, Erik Prince was appointed by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to make a secret, private army. For this, he was paid $529 million.
(recently revealed that future nuclear plant protection was part of that deal, assuming the success of trump selling nuke plant info to the ME worked)

He has supplied troops for the massacres in Yemen.

He was working with the Gov. of Azerbaijan to do nefarious deeds, but that was stopped when people started talking about how illegal it was.

He provided military "solutions" to several E. Africa countries.

More:
https://www.albawaba.com/news/mapping-erik-prince%E2%80%99s-private-mercenary-empire-1127822

[Judi Lynn]

28. The world would be so much better off without this guy and his special organization.

It would look so impressive to include this statement from the article in his obituary:

In documents obtained by the New York Times, the mission of this privately commissioned battalion included “intelligence gathering, urban combat, the securing of nuclear and radioactive materials, humanitarian missions and special operations ‘to destroy enemy personnel and equipment,’ and crowd-control.

I don't think he would even speak to people with consciences. He lives for killing. Not a highly evolved spirit, not now, not ever.

What a shame.

Your article is excellent.

Thank you.

[Tanuki]

30. Too bad he can't provide some security services for his sister instead

of Betsy sticking it to the taxpayers to the tune of $7.7 million a year!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/10/03/politics/betsy-devos-security-detail-costs-2019-marshals-service/index.html

"The security detail for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is projected to cost $7.74 million for the 2019 fiscal year, according to US Marshals Service spokeswoman Nikki Credic-Barrett. That would be about $1 million more than this year.
.......

DeVos started using a security detail from the US Marshals Service in February 2017 at the direction of Attorney General Jeff Sessions after her contentious confirmation battle and an encounter with protesters at a middle school in Washington. It is uncommon for the Marshals Service to protect Cabinet members, who usually receive security protection through their individual agencies.

.....
This is the first time the agency has protected a Cabinet-level official since it safeguarded the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, US Marshals Service spokeswoman Lynzey Donahue previously told CNN. That position stopped being Cabinet level in 2009."

[Judi Lynn]

32. Good grief! That one had shot straight past me, I had no idea! It's outrageous.

If there can't be an Education Secretary who can function at that position without billing the US taxpayers for a private security detail, there's a need for change, immediately.

Her conduct has been contrary to the interests of the US public. No wonder she fears someone doesn't want her in government.

This is sickening.

You're right, Eric should donate a couple of henchmen to her service, to make sure she doesn't get close enough to humans to give anyone cooties!

Thanks for this information.

[Judi Lynn]

14. Two ex-Navy SEALs among those arrested in failed security contractor gig in Haiti

Pictures of the weapons confiscated from American and Serbian contractors by the police
by Jack Murphy · 1 day ago

Chris Osman and Chris McKinley (formerly known as Chris Heben) were arrested this weekend in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on conspiracy charges. Also arrested in the same group was a former US Marine named Kent Kroeker and several Serbian contractors identified as Bajavic Danilo, Vlad Jankovic and three others named Estera Michael, Daniel Dustin, and Burton Talon. According to Danilo’s LinkedIn account, he works for a company called K17 Security.

According to the Miami Herald, the group of private security contractors were parked in a SUV and a pickup truck about a block away from Haiti’s central bank when they were approached by local police officers. Suspicions were aroused because the vehicles had their license plates removed. The contractors told the police that they were on a “government mission” according to the Haitian police department, but officers were skeptical of this claim and continued to question them.



A picture of Kent Kroeker from Kroeker Partners. As of Wednesday, the website offers the disclaimer: “Kroeker Partners LLC has no active engagements underway in Haiti and is not in a position to offer comments on recent developments in the country.”


When the police discovered that the contractors were heavily armed and unwilling to identify themselves, they were taken into custody. In the vehicles police discovered, “six automatic rifles, six pistols, two professional drones and three satellite phones. They also found a telescope, backpacks, gun vests, professional tapes and documents” to include a list with names on it the Miami Herald reports.

One of the contractors allegedly claimed that they were working for the central bank, but the bank’s governor claims to have had no knowledge of them. Interestingly, their passports were not stamped with entry visas into the country. All eight contractors are currently being detained by Haitian authorities and the US consulate has been made aware of their arrest.

. . .

Now these contractors find themselves trapped in a political struggle between Haiti’s President, Jovenel Moïse and Prime Minister, Jean-Henry Céant. A security consultant in the region told NEWSREP that there are concerns that the Prime Minister is likely to use the arrest to his political advantage by claiming that the President hired US military veterans to assassinate him.

More:
https://thenewsrep.com/114324/two-ex-navy-seals-among-those-arrested-in-failed-security-contractor-gig-in-haiti/

[Judi Lynn]

15. Five heavily armed U.S. 'mercenaries' were arrested in Haiti. Why were they allowed to fly straight

'I used to read that Haiti is a failed country,' said one former presidential candidate. 'Now we can say that'

National Post Staff
February 21, 2019
5:17 PM EST

A group of heavily armed men — including five American citizens — who were arrested in Haiti at the weekend have been inexplicably allowed to leave the country.

Now back in the U.S., they will face no charges, the Miami Herald reports.

As riots over official corruption engulfed the nation, the eight men were captured Sunday in the capital Port-au-Prince by Haitian police. In their vehicles — which had no external number plates — were found automatic weapons, pistols, a telescope, satellite phones, drones and ballistic vests. Fake number plates were also found.

The men, apprehended near the country’s central bank, said they were on a “government mission,” when stopped by police. Police spokesman Michel-Ange Louis-Jeune said the men refused to say anything else except that they would call their unidentified bosses. Which “government” the men spoke of was never made clear.

. . .

Haiti’s prime minister has said he wasn’t even briefed on the men’s departure, but theories as to what exactly the men were doing in the country are swirling. As well as allegations they came to work against the embattled government, claims have been made by government opponents that they were there to prop it up.

More:
https://nationalpost.com/news/world/five-heavily-armed-u-s-mercenaries-were-captured-in-haiti-why-were-they-allowed-to-fly-straight-home

[whistler162]

19. Didn't read the history of the original Filibusters

http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/the-filibuster-movement/

[Hotler]

21. And this ties in with mercenaries in Haiti how? nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

31. Attitude, arrogance, and a wad of bribe money should have gotten them past the checkpoint.

"Gee, officer, it always worked in the past ... how 'bout I peel off a couple more Benjamins"

[Eugene]

27. Americans arrested in Haiti with arsenal of guns won't face U.S. charges

Source: Miami Herald

Americans arrested in Haiti with arsenal of guns won’t face U.S. charges

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES, DAVID OVALLE, AND JAY WEAVER

FEBRUARY 21, 2019 04:06 PM, UPDATED FEBRUARY 21, 2019 07:17 PM

PORT-AU-PRINCE — The five heavily armed Americans arrested in Haiti earlier this week are back on their home soil and won’t be facing any criminal charges in the United States — a decision already causing outrage among some Haitian leaders.

Federal sources told the Miami Herald that the men will not be charged criminally, but are being debriefed. They told U.S. authorities they were on the island providing private security for a “businessman” doing work with the Haitian government.

The five American citizens, who returned on a commercial flight to Miami on Wednesday night and were met by U.S. law enforcement, did not have any scheduled appearances in Miami federal court.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office referred calls to the State Department, which said only: “The return of the individuals to the U.S. was coordinated with the Haitian authorities.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article226572869.html

[Judi Lynn]

29. Hard to blame the outraged Haitian leaders, learning these foreigners are totally free

to stomp in and out of their country, armed to the teeth, clearly capable of engaging in bloody massacres, and that they travel with the blessings of the U.S. Government which demands control of them even in other countries, and that they are not obligated to observe other laws anywhere else.

It's pure evil. Nightmarish. Should NEVER be seen in this world anywhere.

Didn't they spring to life while George W. was the pResident? Then they re-appeared for Trump's occupation of the White House.

The world needs more Democratic Presidents, by god.

[Izzy Blue]

33. " Ex-Navy SEAL sentenced in road rage attack "

2017

"Ex-Navy SEAL and former defense contractor Christopher “Chris” Osman was convicted Wednesday morning for assaulting a motorist during a May 20 road rage incident in Imperial Beach".




also

"In recent years he’s feuded publicly with several fellow Special Operations veterans, including ex-SEAL Brandon Webb.

Osman has contended that Webb’s bestselling publications embellished his role in Seal Team 3, especially a predawn mission in 2002 at the Zhawar Kili cave complex near the Pakistan border that destroyed an insurgent tunnel system.

Webb has fired back with accusations that Osman allegedly disclosed secret information in a book, struggled to graduate from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training and was sent home early from an Afghanistan combat deployment following an unspecified incident.https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/sd-me-seal-osman-20171206-story.html

[Judi Lynn]

35. That was a strangely light response from the judge for Osman's violent behavior.

Looks as if this guy is treated like a star wherever he goes. What he did was ugly, vicious, and should have gotten a more serious treatment.

I looked for a photo after seeing your article:



Then I saw this photo:



‘I asked if I could pin when paying the bill in an American restaurant’
February 25, 2015

The article with it, written in the Netherlands, treated him like an important celebrity. Have NO idea why he warranted this kind of attention from them.

They apparently have a wildly exaggerated sense of self-importance, which shows you the culture is really, really diseased!

They are paid to be monsters.

[Izzy Blue]

34. Christopher McKinley-Heben

A jury eventually found him innocent of lying.


"Police: Former SEAL lied about shooting"

"A former Navy SEAL who claimed he chased his assailants after being shot in an Ohio parking lot in March lied about what happened that day, according to police.

Former Special Operator 1st Class Chris Heben was shot in the lower abdomen, but not at West Market Plaza, Bath Township Police Chief Michael McNeely told Navy Times on Thursday.

Heben was served Thursday with a summons to appear on charges of falsification and obstructing official business, according to a release from the Bath Police Department. He faces up to 180 days in jail and a $1,750 fine. Court records indicate he'll be arraigned on Sept. 11.

After collecting surveillance tapes and other evidence, police concluded that Heben lied about the location of the shooting.

Heben claimed he was shot during an altercation in the parking lot and later tried to chase down the perpetrators while plugging the bullet wound with his finger, a story that gained him national attention."

more
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/06/police-former-seal-lied-about-shooting/15198797/