SOFREP Exclusive: Talking With Project Dynamo Founder Bryan Stern, Boots on the Ground in Haiti Rescuing Americans

Americans Urged to Evacuate Haiti

The US Department of State has issued a warning urging American citizens to evacuate Haiti amid escalating gang violence that has swept across the island nation.

Last week, a wave of gang assaults targeted several state facilities, including prisons, over fifty police precincts, and the international airport, leading to widespread chaos.

This surge in violence has brought the nation to a standstill, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency by the Haitian government.

On its website, the US Embassy in Haiti advises Americans to “keep abreast of local news and acquire information regarding security conditions from commercial transport services, and to depart from Haiti as soon as the security situation and commercial transport options allow.”

Departing the country, however, presents significant challenges. With the temporary closure of Haiti’s airport after a gang attempt to take it over, options are limited.

Today, March 16th, the US Embassy in Haiti warns on their website:

“The security situation in Haiti is unpredictable and dangerous.  Travel within Haiti is conducted at your own risk.  The U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety traveling to airports, borders, or during any onward travel.  You should consider your personal security situation before traveling anywhere in Haiti. Only attempt to depart Haiti or travel within Haiti if you believe it is safe for you to do so.” 

So, if you are an American in Haiti, our government is saying you are basically SOL (Situationally Out of Luck) if you are counting on them. Their advice is, “Be prepared to shelter in place for an extended period of time.” All is not lost, however, there are groups of Americans that do not believe in leaving our own behind in a violent third world banana republic on the verge of anarchy. I’ll get to that in a minute.

A State of Emergency

The possibility of crossing by land into the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti, is nearly unfeasible for those in Port-au-Prince due to gang control of the pathways. Furthermore, there are no popular seaports open and available for passenger travel.

This marks the second warning the US Embassy in Haiti issued for Americans to evacuate, with a similar security alert released on March 3rd.

Haiti is under a state of emergency and enforces a nighttime curfew due to the spike in gang violence. This follows a series of attacks on several of the country’s major prisons, resulting in the escape of thousands of inmates.

The Haitian government announced a 72-hour state of emergency on Sunday evening, imposing a curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. According to a government press release, the move aims “to restore order and implement necessary measures to regain control of the situation.”

The declaration comes in response to “worsening security conditions, especially in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, characterized by increasingly violent crimes by armed gangs. This has led to large-scale displacement of the population, involving kidnappings, murders of civilians, violence against women and children, and looting and destruction of public and private assets.”

Before the attack on one facility on Saturday (March 9th), it was estimated that nearly 4,000 inmates were incarcerated, with less than 100 remaining by Sunday,  per official reports. However, the exact number of those who escaped is still undetermined.

The statement on Sunday from the Haitian government identified the attackers as “heavily armed criminals intent on freeing individuals detained for kidnapping, murder, and other severe crimes,” noting that several inmates and prison staff sustained injuries during the conflict.

An encounter on Monday involving gangs attempting to take control of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince was reported to multiple news outlets by a source in Haitian law enforcement. A group of gang members reportedly breached the airport’s perimeter, engaging in a firefight with Haitian police and military personnel in an unsuccessful attempt to seize the facility.

A Haitian police officer was injured in the exchange and later succumbed to injuries at a local hospital, as confirmed by a police source. The confrontation also resulted in an unspecified number of casualties among the attackers.

US Urges Transfer of Power

The US Embassy in Port-au-Prince announced “limited operations” for Thursday, with all appointments through mid-March being canceled, as stated on Wednesday.

Brian Nichols, the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, reported that Secretary Blinken had a phone conversation with Haitian leader Ariel Henry on Thursday evening. While details of the call were not disclosed, Nichols mentioned that Blinken emphasized the urgency of transferring power.

The situation in Haiti is still under close observation by officials, who have yet to announce any immediate plans for evacuating the US Embassy or orchestrating a government-led evacuation of American citizens in the country.

Enter Project Dynamo

As Americans, we can’t just sit and watch as our government leaves its citizens behind once again in a foreign land to face the possibility of death. There are those among us who will step up and say, “Send me,” and proceed to pull our people out of harm’s way. One such group of brave men and women make up Project Dynamo, a veteran-led, donor-funded not-for-profit based out of Tampa.

This is not their first rodeo. They were founded out of necessity in August 2021 after the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Once the US military left for good, Dynamo stayed and rescued 117 stranded Americans in one day. That is one of the largest private evacuations in American history. Since that time, they’d executed over six hundred operations globally, from Ukraine to Sudan, saving over 6,800 lives. And this is all without one cent of government funding. It is also done without government thanks or acknowledgment. The men and women of Project Dynamo are unsung heroes, but they don’t do it for the recognition.

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to get Project Dynamo Founder and friend of SOFREP Bryan Stern on the phone from an undisclosed location in Haiti. He confirmed that things are bad…quite bad. “Chaos”, he called it.

“It is pure anarchy; people are running around, many with weapons, doing whatever they feel like. It’s one of the most dangerous places I’ve ever been.” 

I asked Bryan roughly how many Americans were still in Haiti, and he replied, “No one knows. I don’t think the State Department really knows. If I had to guess, I’d guess a couple hundred.” I’d like to point out that if you know someone in Haiti who needs to be evacuated, go to the main page of the Project Dynamo website and click “Request Evacuation.” There are never any fees for their services. As we discussed, they don’t know who is there unless the organization is made aware of their presence.

Stern has confirmed that a contingent of US Marines are indeed on the ground in Haiti, but these Marines are not there to evacuate anyone. They are there to augment security at the US Embassy.

We discussed the gangs on the island and all of the destruction they are bringing to the impoverished nation. Stern noted that while the gangs have leaders, the gang members do not do everything they say as if they are military leaders giving orders to a soldier. It’s basically a free-for-all. Many very angry, heavily armed citizens are looking for somewhere to vent that anger. He noted that Port-au-Prince is now akin to the streets of Mogadishu during the days of Operation Gothic Serpent and the “Black Hawk Down” incident.

The dynamics are “very, very complicated,” making rescues all the more difficult. For example, Project Dynamo has been denied access to a helipad adjacent to the US Embassy by the US government. It’s not like our leaders are going to be sending any helicopters there to evacuate our citizens, but they don’t want anyone else using it either.

Stern noted that there is no overwhelming animosity toward Americans at this point in Haiti, but they are viewed as valuable…” a meal ticket.” One way the gangs earn money is through kidnapping and collecting ransoms, and Americans are viewed the world over as valuable in this regard.

If you’d like to find out more about Project Dynamo and its latest mission, Operation RUM RUNNER, click on projectdynamo.org. I ask that you consider making a donation to the cause. As I mentioned earlier, they are a totally donor funded non-profit.

The government is not going to help get our citizens out, so, once again, it is left up to us.