After a gun battle between police and gangs that spanned days, nearly 4,000 inmates managed to get out of Haiti's largest prison, Fox News reported Sunday.
Armed gangs attacked the prison in Port-au-Prince after the country's prime minister left the nation to visit Kenya to seek help in dealing with the gang violence.
A standoff between police and the massive criminal population came to an end on Sunday with almost all of the prisoners escaping.
It followed a week in which at least nine people -- including four police officers -- were killed, according to The Associated Press.
One of the gang leaders, Jimmy Cherizier, called upon other gangs to work together to overthrow the political regime.
"All of us, the armed groups in the provincial towns and the armed groups in the capital are united," Cherizier said, according to Fox News.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry had said he would step down at the end of February but declared gang violence needed to be dealt with before an election could be held fairly.
The Haitian leader was successful in negotiating for assistance in Kenya, securing 1,000 police officers to provide help to the island country.
A previous plan that was agreed upon in October that would have provided a U.N.-authorized international police force to the nation was deemed unconstitutional by the Kenyan High Court, leading to the discussions that took place during the week.
The country has seen far more gang violence than just what's occurred at the prison, witnessing attacks at state institutions such as the Central Bank and the international airport.
"Haiti’s National Police has roughly 9,000 officers to provide security for more than 11 million people, according to the U.N. They are routinely overwhelmed and outgunned by gangs, which are estimated to control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince," the AP reported.
While the situation in Haiti seems far removed from this country, it might not be so distant.
America is slowly getting closer to the same reality that is being witnessed in the Caribbean country.
As both foreign gangs pour over the border undeterred and domestic gangs slowly amass more strength from soft-on-crime policies failing to disrupt their operations, conditions for Haiti-like criminal chaos keep improving here.
Even more so, while they see their strength increasing, movements pushing police reform work to take resources away from officers on the frontline of preventing the exact reality seen in Haiti.
We might be even worse off than Haiti in such a scenario, as gangs here wouldn't need to bust out their compatriots as Soros-backed district attorneys push for catch-and-release policies.
Of course, many would claim the strongest nation in the world could never descend into the chaos seen in Haiti.
But with the nation being pushed to its limits with rampant inflation, international turmoil, a continuous border crisis, attacks on citizens' Second Amendment rights and, most of all, a lack of capable leaders, what realistically is stopping things from spiraling?
