U.S. Attorney Handling Would-Be Trump Assassin’s Case Is a Haitian Immigrant

Days after Donald Trump spewed conspiracies targeting Haitian migrants on the presidential debate stage, a Haitian-American immigrant has taken charge of the prosecution of an alleged assassin whose plot against the former president was foiled by Secret Service agents at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Markenzy Lapointe, the Justice Department’s top prosecutor for South Florida, was born in Port-au-Prince and immigrated to the U.S. with his mother at age 16, the Miami Herald reported. His family settled in the Miami neighborhood of Liberty City, and Lapointe worked his way through school as a cab driver and server alongside his mother at an upscale restaurant in Key Biscayne. Lapointe was also a U.S. Marine reservist and was called up to serve during the Gulf War. “It mattered to me as an immigrant who came here and could contribute to this country in a special way,” he told the Herald. Lapointe was nominated for the post by President Biden in September 2022 and confirmed by the Senate in December of that year with bipartisan support, including vocal support from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Lapointe has since led the case against the alleged assassins of Haitian President President Jovenel Moïse, which led to a grand jury indictment against 11 people and the arrest of four Florida residents allegedly involved in the scheme last year.

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