Posted on Feb 27, 2019
Mystery surrounds Haiti arrest of local ex-Navy SEAL on weapons charges
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Greater Akron last heard from former U.S. Navy SEAL Christopher Heben in 2015 after a jury found him not guilty of filing a false police report claiming a black man shot him outside Mustard Seed Market in Bath Township.
Now the 49-year-old Northeast Ohio native is back in the news.
He has a new name — Christopher McKinley — and a new mystery: Why were he and four other Americans reportedly armed with automatic rifles, pistols and drones tooling around Haiti’s capital in unmarked vehicles during violent protests Feb. 17?
News accounts said McKinley or one of his traveling companions, which also included two Serbians and a Haitian, told police they were there on a government mission.
But whose government — the U.S., Haitian or some other — was not specified, nor was the goal of their heavily armed mission.
The group, arrested for illegal weapons, was released by Haitian authorities and returned to U.S. soil last week.
It seems unlikely the public will ever know the true nature of their travels since the men face no charges in U.S. courts.
Now the 49-year-old Northeast Ohio native is back in the news.
He has a new name — Christopher McKinley — and a new mystery: Why were he and four other Americans reportedly armed with automatic rifles, pistols and drones tooling around Haiti’s capital in unmarked vehicles during violent protests Feb. 17?
News accounts said McKinley or one of his traveling companions, which also included two Serbians and a Haitian, told police they were there on a government mission.
But whose government — the U.S., Haitian or some other — was not specified, nor was the goal of their heavily armed mission.
The group, arrested for illegal weapons, was released by Haitian authorities and returned to U.S. soil last week.
It seems unlikely the public will ever know the true nature of their travels since the men face no charges in U.S. courts.
Mystery surrounds Haiti arrest of local ex-Navy SEAL on weapons charges
Posted from ohio.com
Navy SEALs
Haiti
Weapons
Firearms and Guns
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 3
I'm interested in this story. Where did you quote that from? I don't see it in the story.
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SPC Robert Coventry
Why were former members of the U.S. military driving around Haiti heavily armed?
Haiti police are continuing to investigate why eight men including five Americans were driving around Port-au-Prince heavily armed. Some of the men are U.S. military veterans.
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Have gun, will travel? Received pressure from the National Palace to release the men?
Interesting information from a different article from the Atlanta Black Star.
Kroeker, 52, is a 20-year Marine veteran who runs an off-road engineering company.
McKinley, 49, a former Navy SEAL.
Osman, 44, is also a former Marine and Navy SEAL.
Dustin Porte, 42, whose electrical contracting company was once a subcontractor for the Department of Homeland Security, and
Talon Ray Burton, 52, who is the director of a security company.
The other men are Vlade Jankvic, 41, and Danilo Bajagic, 37, and Michael Estera, 39, a Haitian national who goes by the pseudonym “Clifford.”
When stopped by police, the group was riding in two vehicles without license plates, and refused to provide their identification. Among the arsenal found were six pistols, six automatic rifles, three satellite phones, two professional drones and other material including backpacks, gun vests, a telescope, tapes and documents with a list of names.
According to Port-au-Prince chief of police Joel Casseus, the men told police “they were on a government mission” and “they didn’t have to speak to us.” They did not specify which government for which they were working, and were released and escorted by U.S. embassy staff to the airport VIP diplomatic lounge without handcuffs, then boarded their flight. The men reportedly told U.S. officials they were in the country providing security for a “government-partnered ‘businessman.’” Haitian Attorney General Paul Eronce Villard, who along with the U.S. consul general had visited the detainees, denied he was pressured to release the men, or that justice minister Pierre-Richard Casimir had visited them. Villard later said the police received pressure from the National Palace to release the men.
Interesting information from a different article from the Atlanta Black Star.
Kroeker, 52, is a 20-year Marine veteran who runs an off-road engineering company.
McKinley, 49, a former Navy SEAL.
Osman, 44, is also a former Marine and Navy SEAL.
Dustin Porte, 42, whose electrical contracting company was once a subcontractor for the Department of Homeland Security, and
Talon Ray Burton, 52, who is the director of a security company.
The other men are Vlade Jankvic, 41, and Danilo Bajagic, 37, and Michael Estera, 39, a Haitian national who goes by the pseudonym “Clifford.”
When stopped by police, the group was riding in two vehicles without license plates, and refused to provide their identification. Among the arsenal found were six pistols, six automatic rifles, three satellite phones, two professional drones and other material including backpacks, gun vests, a telescope, tapes and documents with a list of names.
According to Port-au-Prince chief of police Joel Casseus, the men told police “they were on a government mission” and “they didn’t have to speak to us.” They did not specify which government for which they were working, and were released and escorted by U.S. embassy staff to the airport VIP diplomatic lounge without handcuffs, then boarded their flight. The men reportedly told U.S. officials they were in the country providing security for a “government-partnered ‘businessman.’” Haitian Attorney General Paul Eronce Villard, who along with the U.S. consul general had visited the detainees, denied he was pressured to release the men, or that justice minister Pierre-Richard Casimir had visited them. Villard later said the police received pressure from the National Palace to release the men.
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