An American YouTube personality who was kidnapped two weeks ago by a gang leader in Haiti was released over the weekend and was on his way home to the United States on Monday morning, according to his father.
The American, Adisson Pierre Maalouf, 26, had traveled from the neighboring Dominican Republic to interview Jimmy Chérizier, a former police officer and gang leader known as Barbecue, according to Mr.
Maalouf’s family, who spoke to The New York Times after his release.
Kidnapped with him was Mr. Maalouf’s guide, a Haitian journalist named Jean Sacra Sean Roubens. Mr. Roubens confirmed to The Times that he had also been released.
Mr. Maalouf said on social media that he had been abducted by a rival gang leader and held in a “concrete shack surrounded by barbed wire” in a remote location.
Mr. Chérizier could not be reached for comment, and there is no evidence that he was involved in the abductions.
Mr. Maalouf, a Lebanese American from Georgia, calls himself “Arab” on his social media platforms. He was kidnapped on March 14 near the airport in Port-au-Prince, his father, Pierre Maalouf, told The Times.
“He enjoys doing interviews with bad people, let’s put it that way,” Pierre Maalouf said.
In a video posted on social media on Saturday morning, shortly before Mr. Maalouf’s release, he and Mr.
Roubens are seen sitting on a sofa and exchanging hugs with Joseph Wilson, a gang leader known in Haitian Creole as Lanmò Sanjou, or Death Can Come Any Day.
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@Un1onHawkSocialist2yrs2Y
So called “Haitian gang leaders” are 100X more trustworthy and better humans than US politicians
until he eats your testicules with ketchup
@Un1onHawkSocialist2yrs2Y
Just like white colonizers did to blacks in the South.
@GraciousIndepend3nt2yrs2Y
Spoken like a spoiled child. This naïveté can only come from upper middle class American suburbs.
@CampaignCarolineUnity2yrs2Y
Sorry, these dudes are clearly putting on a show. What they’re saying and their behavior is all pretty bizarre. This video actually convinced me that there was no kidnapping. It appears this was done for some type of clout. Smh.
Listening to what the gang leader is saying, YourFellowArab and the Haitian fixer have clearly not been kidnapped. Sanjou says that he kept these ‘brothers’ in his house, in a room with a/c. He says: do they look like people that have been kidnapped?..
@Bip4rtisanMikeVeteran2yrs2Y
He was doing damage control because BBQ demanded their release. Too much bad publicity.
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
If you had a loved one undertaking similar risky endeavors for their career, how would you feel, and would you support their choices?
@9L8J2T42yrs2Y
I would support their choice if they were satisfied by the decision
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
In situations like these, where does the responsibility lie — with the individual for putting themselves in danger, or with the broader international community for not ensuring safety?
@9L8JLHK2yrs2Y
Try not to put yourself into danger and ensure safety at all times.
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
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