State Department labels Haitian gangs as terrorist organizations

The Trump administration has designated a coalition of Haitian gangs that have embroiled the Caribbean nation in mass violence as terrorist organizations, a White House official confirmed to NBC News.

The Viv Ansanm coalition and the Gran Grif gang will now be labeled a Foreign Terrorist Organizations and as Specifically Designated Global Terrorists by the State Department.

The designation was first reported by the Miami Herald.

The Treasury Department also applied the designation to the Gran Grif gang. In October, the gang took responsibility for a massacre of at least 115 people in Pont-Sonde, a rural town.

Earlier this year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio authorized a similar designation for several Mexican cartels and gangs, including MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, according to which, if an individual is found to be providing “material support” to them, they could face sanctions and penalties.

Read more: NBC News