1988-09-11: (The Saint-Jean Bosco Massacre, Former Tonton Macoutes Attacking Aristide’s Church During Mass, Killing at Least Twelve and Wounding Eighty While…

1988-09-11: (The Saint-Jean Bosco Massacre, Former Tonton Macoutes Attacking Aristide’s Church During Mass, Killing at Least Twelve and Wounding Eighty While the Army Watched From Across the Street): On September 11, 1988, unidentified armed gunmen wearing red armbands, most likely former Tonton Macoutes, attacked the Saint-Jean Bosco Roman Catholic church in Port-au-Prince during a Sunday morning Mass presided over by Salesian priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Over one thousand parishioners, many dressed in white to protest Namphy’s attempt to rewrite the 1987 constitution, were attending the service. The gunmen entered the church, accused the congregation of being communists, opened fire, and burned the building. The attack lasted three hours. An army barracks sat directly across the street. The soldiers did nothing. At least twelve people were killed and eighty wounded. Aristide escaped unharmed. The next day, several perpetrators appeared on government television and bragged about their participation, warning that they would attack any future Mass he conducted. The government’s indifference to the massacre contributed to Prosper Avril’s military overthrow of Namphy one week later. The massacre transformed Aristide from a radical parish priest into a national symbol of resistance.