Haitian Gang Leader Threatens To Kill Kidnapped Missionaries

HAITI — The gang that kidnapped a group of missionaries in Haiti is now threatening to kill some of its abductees.

A group of 17 missionaries, including children, were kidnapped while visiting an orphanage in Haiti. The 400 Mawozo gang then demanded $1 million per person ($17 million total) for the release of its hostages. The gang also abducted the missionaries' driver.

On Thursday, the gang's leader, Wilson Joseph, shared a video on social media threatening to kill some of the missionaries if his demands were not met, the Associated Press reported.

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“I swear by thunder that if I don’t get what I’m asking for, I will put a bullet in the heads of these Americans,” Joseph said.

The group of 17 missionaries includes five children, ranging in age from 8-months-old to 15-years-old. There are 16 Americans among the abductees and one Canadian. The group was sent to Haiti by the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries.

Weston Showalter, spokesperson for the religious group, said the families of those kidnapped are from Amish, Mennonite and other conservative Anabaptist communities in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Ontario, Canada. He read a letter from the families, who weren’t identified by name, in which they said, “God has given our loved ones the unique opportunity to live out our Lord’s command to love your enemies.”

Christian Aid Ministries has declined to comment on Joseph's latest video. The group has asked everyone to pray for the abductees and the kidnappers.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this article.