A legislator from Haiti’s ruling party fired a handgun during a protest on Monday, injuring a photojournalist as anger rises against President Jovenel Moise’s government over fuel and food shortages.
Sen. Jean Marie Ralph Fethiere stepped out of a white truck near parliament in the capital Port-au-Prince after several protesters yanked open his passenger-side door while gesturing and yelling at the lawmaker, Reuters footage showed.
Fethiere, wearing a black suit jacket and jeans, pulled out a handgun and fired several shots, sending the cluster of people around his car fleeing in all directions.
He then got back inside the vehicle, which sped out of the parking lot.
Associated Press photographer, Dieu-Nalio Chery, was injured in the jaw and would undergo treatment to remove what appeared to be a bullet fragment.
He is expected to recover.
When asked about the incident, Fethiere told Radio Mega he had acted in self-defence.
A dispute between Haiti and a U.S. energy-trading firm has caused power blackouts and fuel shortages in the nation of 11 million people.
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