MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
There is a section of Brooklyn, N.Y., known as Little Haiti. Jon Kalish headed to the neighborhood to find out how residents there are reacting to news of the assassination.
JON KALISH, BYLINE: There were no visible signs of mourning on Nostrand Avenue, the main drag of Little Haiti. Many of the Haitians I approached, like Wilner Altidor, said they didn't really know what happened in their homeland this week.
WILNER ALTIDOR: We don't know what's going on. We're waiting to know. But there's so many news coming, and that's what we're waiting for. We're here in the United States, but we don't even know what's going on in Haiti.
KALISH: Many of the bars and restaurants were closed because of the pandemic, but there were two barbershops open and filled with customers.
The first one I entered is owned by Patrick Coby.
PATRICK COBY: It is about time for me, for the population, that's suffering a lot because of his term, because of the way he's leading the country. I wish I could buy a wine to drink. So I'm happy because of what happened to him. That's not mean that I'm not human, but too much killing down there. He didn't say anything about it.
KALISH: Some of the Haitians I spoke to said they were here for decades and were used to tragedies from the island.
Joe Stevenson called the assassination of President Moise a cowardly act.
JOE STEVENSON: It's messed up. Whoever did it needs to pay for it. Whether you like him or not, you don't do that. Let him - you know, let him work out his term. And if you guys got to make changes, you got to make changes. But as far as assassinating him, nobody deserves that.
KALISH: Sitting in his SUV, a man who declined to give me his last name said he has been in the U.S. for 48 years, and even though he referred to Haiti as my country, he said he had become inured to the continuing tragedy there.
For NPR News, I'm Jon Kalish in New York. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
