Rumours that cannibalism is common in Haiti circulated in March on social media. FRANCE 24’s Observers team looked into these reports and found that several of the videos upon which these rumours seem to be based actually have nothing to do with Haiti – even though several real instances of cannibalism appear to have taken place in Haiti between 2019 and 2024. However, this gruesome practice remains extremely rare. But this hasn’t stopped conservative social media accounts based in the United States and the Dominican Republic from widely spreading this rumour. Elon Musk shared one of the most widely shared posts, which garnered around 17 million views.
WARNING: Some people may find certain descriptions or screengrabs in this article upsetting.
A wave of gang violence has paralysed the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, since February 29. Interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry was pushed into resigning from gang pressure on March 12.
In the midst of this chaos, rumours began to circulate that cannibalism – eating human flesh – has become a common practice in Haiti. These rumours are largely based on three videos, which have been widely circulated. Two, however, were filmed in different countries and even though the third was filmed in Haiti, it is from 2021 and, thus, isn’t proof of anything recent.
A video filmed in China
The first video that fuelled these rumours shows two people who seem to be cooked on a spit over a fire.
An X account called @FernandovichG shared this video on March 11, where it garnered more than 47,000 views. The next day, an account called @PredatorHunterz shared the same video along with this caption: “Hey Libtards!!! [Editor’s note: a derogatory word made by combining “liberals” and “retards”] By Letting in Millions of Undocumented and Unvetted Illegal Illegal Immigrants Means Many People LIKE THIS! […] We Are Letting Killers, Rapists. and Cannibals Into Our Country!!”
This X post garnered more than 600,000 views before it was deleted by X.
This video has nothing to do with Haiti because it was filmed back in October 2018 during Halloween festivities at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, a theme park located on Hengqin island, China. It doesn’t actually show a real cannibal scene. By doing a reverse image search, Indian media outlet India Today and the Indonesian fact checking outlet Turnbackhoax.id found several videos showing the same scene at the theme park (a few examples here, here, here and here).
A video from Nigeria
Social media users also widely circulated a second video as “proof” that cannibalism is widespread in Haiti. It shows a man crouching over a pot where what looks like human remains are cooking.
This video was shared on X on March 11 by the account @tornicleto2, along with a caption that reads: “More footage of Haitian cannibalism. This time a group of Haitians boiling a whole human b0dy. Now u understand why Dominicans wants to keep their border closed.”
The post, which was still live at the time of publication, has been viewed more than 373,000 times.
Once again, this video has nothing to do with Haiti and isn’t an example of real cannibalism. It was actually filmed on a film set in Nigeria in June 2018.
A video that was actually filmed in Haiti, but in 2021
People also circulated a third video in March that they claimed documented cannibalism in Haiti in recent weeks. It shows a man wearing a brightly coloured T-shirt with smoke around him. He seems to be chewing on something. Then, he bends down, lifts up the leg of someone who seems to be burning on the ground, and then seems to rip off a piece of flesh, which he puts in his mouth.
This video was shared on X by the account @dom_lucre on March 10, along with the caption: “BREAKING NEWS: Here is disturbing footage of the Haitian cannibal gang eating body parts of one of their victims as he cooks in the fire. The Haiti Cannibal Gang leader is named ‘Barbeque’ […].” The post has been viewed more than 22 million times, but the video has since been deleted (it was archived here, though).
In the video, you can hear a man speak in Haitian Creole. “He is eating the meat of a man on the ground. […] At the summit of Morne Badet [a hill], they captured a man who stole motorcycles. This man, it seems, lost several motorcycles. That’s why he eats the meat of the thief’s body. The body was grilled by part of the population.”
Morne Badet, or Badet Hill, is located in the commune of Pétion-Ville, which is in the suburb of Port-au-Prince.
An article from the Haitian media outlet Le Filet Info, published on November 1, 2021, seems to be about the same incident. “An alleged thief was killed and burned […] on Monday by motorcyclists at the intersection between Geffrard and Villate Streets in Pétion-Ville. This man was accused of having stolen a motorcycle and being a specialist in motorcycle theft.” We contacted Le Filet Info, who confirmed to us that the thief mentioned in the article was the same man whose flesh was being eaten in the video.
This video was already online on November 3, 2021 and was shared back then by an account called @DespiertaPuebRD, based in the Dominican Republic, along with this caption: “Can our country live alongside this type of person? […]” The tweet is archived here.
Another account, @DomdelExterior, which says that it is run by Dominicans in New York, also shared the video the same day, along with the caption “Judge for yourselves what we are fighting against” (tweet archived here). This account often shares messages hostile to Haitians.
Therefore, unlike the other videos, this one was filmed in Haiti. However, it is old – from November 1, 2021. It thus doesn’t have anything to do with the current crisis situation. It is an act of mob vengeance against a presumed motorcycle thief. Moreover, there is no proof that the gangs or “Barbecue” – one of the most powerful gang chiefs in Haiti – had any role in the incident, contrary to the claims made by @dom_lucre.
Rumours also fed by articles published by the global press
Alongside these videos, a number of articles published in March also contributed to the rumours that cannibalism is currently common in Haiti. However, none of these articles gave specific information – like date or location – about these cases.
“A journalist on the ground told Daily Express US that cannibalism has been witnessed on the streets as the violence reaches ‘unprecedented’ levels,” reads an article published in the Daily Express US, on March 5.
The same day, the British tabloid Daily Star published an article based on the Daily Express US article, “Haiti cannibal gang are ‘eating people they’ve killed’ on the streets […]”.
On March 11, Panam Post, a Spanish-language conservative website based in Miami, Florida, in the United States, published an article called “Haiti sinks beneath cannibalism and gang terror”.
On March 12, French media outlet 20 Minutes published an article titled “Haiti: Acts of cannibalism in the country? ‘There are cases every week without doubt’.”
This quote was attributed to the attaché for interior security at the French Embassy in Port-au-Prince. He was also quoted as saying that there were “hundreds and hundreds of videos on this topic”.
Our team reached out to him as well as the French embassy, to find out what proof he had to support his statement that there were acts of cannibalism taking place “every week” and to ask them to forward us the “hundreds of videos”. We have not yet received a response.
Conservative accounts based in the US and the Dominican Republic are behind the spread of these rumours
These “cannibalism” rumours have been spread in March by conservative social media accounts based in the United States, who are hostile to immigration and President Joe Biden and largely supportive of former US President Donald Trump.
One such account is @PredatorHunterz, which has more than 12,000 followers and which shared the video from China.
Another of these accounts belongs to @AuronMacintyre, a journalist with conservative media outlet Blaze media. He shared the Daily Star article with his 155,000 followers along with the comment, “A gentle reminder that the border is open and there is essentially nothing preventing immigrants from bringing this madness here. In fact, when those immigrants arrive at the southern border the Biden admin often flies them directly into the heart of the country.”
His post, which is still online, has been viewed more than 17 million times. Elon Musk, who now owns X, retweeted it, along with the comment “exactly”. His tweet has been viewed more than 16 million times, and is still online.
Regarding the video that shows a confirmed case of cannibalism in Haiti, but from 2021, it is the account @dom_lucre that really contributed to it going viral recently. According to Conspiracy Watch, a website that documents conspiracy theories, this American user regularly shares that kind of contents. One of those who retweeted @dom_lucre’s post was the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, known for his merciless way of dealing with gangs in his country, which has been condemned by human rights organisations.
One of the accounts that also shared the 2021 video belongs to @Michael_Yon, who often posts anti-immigrant messages. On March 12, his caption reads: “Cannibals without Borders […]. US military and law enforcement do NOTHING to stop it and are facilitating our own invasion and death as a nation. […] These savages are pouring across our borders across America and into police and military uniforms […].” His post, which has garnered more than 16,000 views, is still online but the video has since been deleted.
These accounts are sharing these rumours of cannibalism to portray Haitians as savages and to hit home the idea that immigration is dangerous for the United States. They seem to be directly trying to drum up opposition to the Humanitarian Parole programme launched by Biden in January 2023 that is meant to help Haitians, among other nationalities, enter the United States legally – to cut down on the dangers of undocumented migration. By late January 2024, an estimated 138,000 Haitians had already come to the United States legally through this programme.
The spread of these rumours appears to be tied to the US presidential campaign, which looks certain to be a runoff between Biden and Trump. Fake information about immigration is already rampant. Fact-checking outlet Factchequeado recently listed the most common misinformation narratives on this topic, including that the border is “open” or the idea of an “invasion”. The Associated Press recently looked at why there is no basis for Trump’s accusations that migrants are being secretly transported by plane.
Moreover, many of the cannibalism rumours have been shared by accounts that seem to be run by people from the Dominican Republic, like @tornicleto2, who has more than 33,000 followers and who shared the video from Nigeria. This account regularly shares racist content about Haitians.
The Dominican Republic is located on the same island as Haiti and this type of hate speech is common over there. There is “systemic racism” towards people of Haitian background in the Dominican Republic, according to Amnesty International. In recent weeks, the Dominican Republic has increased border security because of the security crisis going on in Haiti.
“These rumours are an attempt to smear our country, to turn it into a caricature. We need to speak out against this new narrative about our country. As has always been the case, these rumours are being spread at a time when our country is seeking a new political path,” says writer and linguistics student Litainé Laguerre, who lives in Port-au-Prince.
Two other videos that seem to show cannibalism in Haiti, from 2024 and 2019
As there is at least one video that seems to show a case of cannibalism in Haiti, back in 2021, we wanted to see if we could find any other proof of this – to determine if it really is common, as some have claimed.
As part of our investigation, we spoke to about 20 different Haitians, including people working in the human rights sector, journalism and citizens. From these discussions, we were able to identify and verify two other videos that seem to show cannibalism in Haiti. Unlike the videos we’ve discussed earlier, neither of these went viral.
2024: a scene involving a gang leader
One of these videos, which circulated on WhatsApp, shows Beliose Louis-Jeune, nicknamed “Bout ba”, a gang chief based in Mariani, a neighborhood in the commune of Carrefour, located to the southwest of Port-au-Prince. The video shows him cutting off a piece of flesh from a body then going into a house to wash it, cook it, cut it up and put it in his mouth. This scene looks like cannibalism, even though it is impossible to verify if the piece of flesh that “Bout Ba” ate really is the piece that he cut off the body. The video cuts out at a moment and he goes out of the frame on several occasions.
This scene was filmed in Haiti because it shows “Bout Ba”. Moreover, you can hear people speaking Haitian Creole. You can also see “Pap Padap” on a house (we’ve marked this in blue in the screengrab above) – this is a recharging system with the telephone company Digicel, which is only sold in Haiti.
This video apparently went viral the weekend of February 24 and 25, 2024, according to an article published February 25. We have found no instance of it being shared online before this.
According to this article, the victim was a man named Dieufort Dor, “a local who was working to try and get a return to calm in Mariani” and “who was accused of treason by the thugs”. His name is mentioned in the video. Our team spoke to Darbenzky Michaelange Gilbert, the director of the Order of human rights defenders, who told a similar story. He said that he was “preaching peace” and was “killed by the Mariani gang who were angry at him for his job as a police scout”.
2019: supporter of a former gang leader seems to become a victim of cannibalism
We also found another video that seems to offer proof of another act of cannibalism in Haiti. The video shows several people – including children – gathered around a charred body, that is still on fire. The people are speaking in Haitian Creole. One of them seems to rip off pieces off the body and then puts them in his mouth.
On March 15, 2019, a number of articles and social media posts appeared online referring to this incident, which apparently took place in La Saline, a neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince. These posts speak of a man who was killed and burned before people ate his flesh. According to these articles, the man who was killed was a follower of Ti Junior, a gang leader from La Saline killed in 2022. Media outlet Loop Haïti reported that you can hear someone say in the video, “Here he is, Ti-Junior, here he is, your soldier who we have already cut into pieces”, “Here, we don’t throw away bodies, we roast them and eat them.”
It’s difficult to geolocate this video. However, in the screengrab above, we’ve outlined a bit in blue that seems to be the National petrol station at the intersection between the La Saline boulevard and Delmas street (shown on a map here). It’s likely these men were in an abandoned lot about a hundred metres from there.
A practice that remains extremely rare in Haiti
In the end, we only found three videos that seem to show cannibalism in Haiti in recent years – one from 2019, another from 2021 and a third from 2024. It seems that this gruesome practice remains rare.
And even if we have identified a number of cases, people we spoke to seemed horrified and didn’t want their country or countrymen to be associated with the practice.
“Cannibalism isn’t part of our culture,” one local told our team.
“Haiti is a country where social norms wouldn’t permit these kind of acts,” say another.
Moreover, only one of these three videos was filmed this year. So there is no proof that cannibalism is widespread right now.
Gangs appear in two out of these three videos. According to our sources, rumours of cannibalism almost always relate to the armed groups.
“There are voice messages from WhatsApp that have been leaked, threats between the leaders of rival gangs, who promise to eat one another,” says Marie Rosy Kesner Auguste Ducéna,from the National Network of Human Rights. “But we haven’t yet received any formal complaints from people whose friends or family were eaten by gang members.”
While cannibalism does seem fairly rare, despite the rumours, there are frequent cases of the gangs in Haiti mutilating and burning their victims, including members of rival gangs, police or just normal people.
Our sources said that mutilating bodies or even eating parts of them is a way for gangs to terrorise their adversaries and the population.
“It’s to show the level of violence that they are capable of,” said Meatherlinck Jerome St Juste, a Haitian anthropologist. “It allows them to put pressure on the families of the people that they have kidnapped, so that they’ll send ransom money even faster,” said one resident of Port-au-Prince. According to our sources, these practices might also have links to drug use or beliefs related to voodoo or fetishism.
“Gang leaders known that they can operate in total impunity, because they benefit from indifference, complacency and even collusion from the authorities and the police,” says Haitian ombudsman Renan Hédouville, which could explain why they often film their violent acts without fear of legal repercussions.