Haiti gang chief uses TikTok to expand control over crime-ridden capital by boasting about rape and murder to recruit more soldiers as gang violence chokes island: 'Gonna whack them all'

A Haitian warlord has been using rap videos to expand his control over the crisis hit country as gang violence continues to choke the capital. 

Johnson Andre, also known as Izo, had been using accounts on sites like TikTok to recruit foot soldiers and sow further terror in the country, according to researchers.

Alongside his 'Five Seconds Gang', Andre has been responsible for disseminating videos that have astonished even the most experienced of officials. 

On Friday, his TikTok account was banned, which boasted 227,000 followers according to the Wall Street Journal. 

The outlet reported that his content involved him rapping about killing police officers, showing off new military grade weapons and ridiculing Haitian politicians. 

Police in the country, the UN, and the U.S. Government all blame Andre for part of the ongoing chaos, and have accused him of murder, rape, and drug-running. 

Johnson Andre, also known as Izo, had been using accounts on sites like TikTok to recruit foot soldiers and sow further terror in the country, according to researchers

Alongside his 'Five Seconds Gang', Andre has been responsible for disseminating videos that have astonished even the most experienced of officials

According to a report by the UN, his videos have helped lure more members to his gang, who work for food, guns, phones and money

His compound in the capital Port-au-Prince also features prominently, as he counts $100 bills and drinks from cognac bottles

The United Nations said in a report seen by the outlet that his Five Seconds Gang has been the most active in the recruitment of child soldiers. 

After being sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in December, they said his gang had been responsible for 1,035 cases of sexual violence in 2022 alone. 

Videos seen by the WSJ include him saying: 'Gonna whack them all. Going to snort cocaine and kill everyone who hates me.' 

Andre and members of his gang are also seen re-enacting a thwarted police raid that left an officer dead in a choreographed and edited video. 

Other videos shared to his X profile and seen by DailyMail.com show gang members clutching assault rifles and setting fire to vehicles. 

His compound in the capital Port-au-Prince also features prominently, as he counts $100 bills and drinks from cognac bottles.  

Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who researches armed groups in the Americas and Africa, said: 'With others, it’s a message of social justice. With Izo, it’s, ‘The world has gone to hell, and I’m the biggest devil'. 

Felbab-Brown also told the outlet that his use of social media mirrors strategies that helped other organizations including cartels expand their footprint. 

She said the videos are used to stoke fear amongst rivals and serve as advertising to cocaine smugglers to use Haiti as a transit hub for drug shipments. 

Agents of the Haitian National Police PNH confront bandits after intense shots were heard throughout the afternoon, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 08 April 2024

People look for salvageable pieces from burned cars at a mechanic shop that was set on fire during violence by armed gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 25, 2024

A protester burns tires during a demonstration following the resignation of its Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 12, 2024

Speaking to the WSJ, United Nations human rights expert on Haiti Bill O'Neill said: 'What’s new is the cruelty and public humiliation. Never seen this before. Never on this level.'

O'Neill described how videos of rapes, some in front of family members, had been shared on the internet by gangs in Haiti. 

According to a report by the UN that O'Neill helped pen, his videos have helped lure more members to his gang, who work for food, guns, phones and money. 

Rep Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the only Haitian American serving in Congress, told the WSJ after seeing the videos: 'This is like a professional studio that came in. My videos don’t look like that, and we have a team!

'It seems like they’re putting out these propaganda videos to recruit, to show how wonderful it is to be part of the gangs.'

Nathalye Cotrino, who tracks gangs for New York-based Human Rights Watch, added: 'We’re seeing gangs act more and more autonomously and no longer depend on political handouts.

'Now we have gangs that are not interested in anything political, just continuing in their criminal activities.'

After being sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in December, they said Andre's gang had been responsible for 1,035 cases of sexual violence in 2022 alone

Police take cover during an anti-gang operation next to the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 8, 2024

National Police patrol an intersection amid gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 8, 2024

Andre's YouTube page, which he shared his music videos to, was closed down last year after he received a silver plaque from the platform which caused public uproar.

Alternative accounts still actively share his content, with a YouTube spokesman telling the outlet that they are working to terminate those channels. 

A TikTok spokesperson also said: 'We stand firmly against violent extremism, and we work aggressively to identify and remove content and accounts that break these rules.'

The ongoing gang violence in Haiti has driven 17,000 people in the capital from their homes, with many crammed into abandoned schools. 

Gunfire still echoes daily throughout Port-au-Prince though the gang violence has subsided in some areas since gunmen started attacking key government infrastructure on February 29. 

On Saturday, Haiti's National Police said they recovered a hijacked cargo ship laden with race following a gunbattle with gangs that lasted more than five hours. 

Police said in the statement Sunday that those responsible for the hijacking were members of two gangs, one of which was the Five Seconds gang. 

Gangs have burned down multiple police stations, opened fire on the main international airport that remains closed and stormed Haiti's two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

The ongoing violence forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry to announce he would resign once a transitional presidential council is formed.

Henry was in Kenya to push for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country when the attacks began and remains locked out of Haiti.