Journalists assaulted covering Kenscoff funeral in Haiti

Grief turned into outrage Wednesday as journalists covering the funerals of five victims of Haiti’s latest massacre were physically attacked in a cemetery by relatives who blamed the news media for failing to prevent the deadly gang assault on Kenscoff that left their loved ones and dozens other dead.

The violence erupted after grieving families attended a collective funeral service, and then separated to take their loved ones to individual tombs for burial, Odeyln Joseph, a Haiti-based photojournalist for The Associated Press, told a Port-au-Prince radio station on Thursday as he described how he was beaten by mourners.

Joseph said he was photographing one of the families when relatives of another victim approached him and began hurling accusations and then attacked him and two other photographers.

All three are Haiti-based photographers work for international news organizations.

“They asked where I was and why I didn’t come to their rescue,” Joseph said. “They accused us of all kinds of things, like people who are aligned with gangs.”

Joseph said he was repeatedly kicked and struck by rocks during the assault while his attackers also tried to destroy his camera. The other journalists injured were Clarens Siffroy, who works for Agence France-Presse, and Jonet St. Elois, who works with Agencia EFE. Joseph suffered the most serious injuries after being repeatedly struck in the head before collapsing to his knees. A video showed fellow journalists struggling to carry an unconscious Joseph away from the crowd.

It was the second time in days that members of the news media have been assaulted by Kenscoff residents while covering funerals for victims of the massacre.

In a statement on Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said it is investigating the attack on the three journalists by mourners.

Hazardous place for journalists

Haiti has become an increasingly hazardous environment for journalists, who have been kidnapped and killed, caught in the crossfire of gang attacks and had their vehicles fired on by police. The assaults in Kenscoff, which took place overnight on Aug. 23, underscore another threat against journalists: hostility from members of the population while trying to document the country’s deepening crisis.

For Joseph, the attack has prompted a lot of questions. He said he has repeatedly placed himself at risk to document the suffering of fellow Haitians as part of his contributions to seeing change in Haiti. On Wednesday, he said, he nearly lost his life doing the work.

“This is why I’ve taken all the risks I’ve taken in my career, in all that takes place in the country,” Joseph said, choking up as he recalled being among the first journalists to publish images of the devastation from the 2021 earthquake in southern Haiti.

“When this incident happened, it really made me start to question,” he said. “At the time the threat was happening, I had a camera in my hands. I didn’t have a weapon, a knife, anything that you would consider to be a threat against the people in the area.”

Joseph said he’s been unable to sleep since the attack and is struggling with what happened. “Today, I cannot believe in the times we are in people cannot see that journalists do not have the means to give people security. We do not have the means to provide people with aid; it’s not in our means to assist families who have people who have died, or pay for their funerals.”

There were no Haitian police officers at either the funeral or the cemetery, Joseph said. Members of a local self-defense citizens brigade eventually intervened by firing warning shots into the air to stop the attack.

The journalists eventually made their way to the local police station, where they filed a complaint. Officers later said he needed to find somewhere in Kenscoff to photocopy the report so they could keep the original, Joseph said.

“I told them, ‘No, the area isn’t secured, and I can’t go walking to go make a copy in order to leave the original with them,’” he told Magik 9 radio. The police also declined to escort them out of the town, he said, forcing them to make their way down to Pétion-Ville on their own.

Mounting questions over Kenscoff massacre

The attack on journalists comes amid mounting questions over the Kenscoff massacre, including how gunmen were able to carry out the surprise assault and whether local officials or security forces failed to adequately respond.

Haitian authorities have opened an investigation. As part of the inquiry, the mayor of Kenscoff and the police inspector in charge of the sprawling mountaintop rural district have been summoned for questioning.

Haitian judicial authorities have said that 25 or 26 people were killed, based on visits to two morgues. The United Nations has put the death toll at 47. More than 50 people were abducted.

After a U.N. Security Council meeting in which foreign governments called for the release of those being held in captivity, six children and seven women were freed Sunday.

The children included three under the age of 2, a 7-year-old and two adolescent girls, UNICEF said in a statement welcoming the release. Also released was an elderly man. The U.N. agency said it had worked alongside community leaders to support efforts that led to the group’s release.

“This release offers a rare moment of hope amidst the violence threatening children in Haiti,” said Yannig Dussart, UNICEF deputy representative in Haiti. “The Kenscoff abduction was not an isolated incident, but another brutal reminder of the scale and frequency of attacks against children across the country.”

The attack in Kenscoff has generated a new wave of public outrage in Haiti and condemnation from abroad.

Pope Leo XIV joined calls for an end to the violence, expressing his “prayerful closeness to the victims and their families.

“I ask that all the hostages be released without delay,” the pontiff said. He also appealed to those responsible for Haiti’s security to commit themselves to “guaranteeing the safety of the population and putting an end to every form of violence.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2026 at 8:05 PM.