At one stage, the rioters flooded into the airport, trapping prime minister Ariel Henry inside, and also attempted to break into Henry's residence.
Given the gang violence that has seized Haiti in the past year, the disorder was in some ways unsurprising.
This time, however, it was not the bandits terrorising the capital, but the country's police force: enraged by a spate of police killings, officers took to the streets late last month to demand a government response.
The riots were initially attributed to Fantom 509, a group of renegade cops who broke rank in 2020 and 2021, but as the protests spread it became clear it was not just a disruptive minority.
"Fantom 509 is very likely involved, but the protests are wider than that," said Renata Segura, deputy director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the International Crisis Group.
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