Prince Johnson, a former Liberian warlord who later became a senator, has died at the age of 72.
Born in Nimba County in northern Liberia, Johnson gained international notoriety during the country’s civil war when he appeared in a video drinking beer while his fighters killed then-President Samuel Doe in 1990. Doe’s death sparked two brutal civil wars that claimed an estimated 250,000 lives.
During the conflict, Johnson was a prominent militia leader, known for his role in the execution of Doe and his faction’s involvement in widespread violence. After the war, Johnson was forced into exile in Nigeria but returned to Liberia in 2004.
Despite his violent past, Johnson never expressed remorse for his actions, maintaining that he had been protecting civilians from a regime he accused of leading people “to the slaughterhouse, as if they were chickens and goats.”
In 2017, Johnson ran in Liberia’s presidential election, receiving more than 8% of the vote in the first round. He was later elected to the Senate, a position he held until his death.