2 Men Charged In Violent Plot To Seize Haitian Island, Enslave Women & Kids
By BIN
November 24, 2025
Two Texas men have been indicted in what federal prosecutors describe as a violent plan to carry out an armed coup on Haiti’s Gonave Island, murder its male population, and enslave women and children, per NPR.
According to prosecutors, Gavin Weisenburg, 21, Tanner Thomas, 20, conspired with others to take military control of the island. The indictment alleges that the men spent months conducting research, reconnaissance, language training, and weapons planning, aiming to “take military control of the Island of Gonave by murdering all the men on the island and capturing all the women.”
Both men are facing charges of conspiracy to kill or kidnap persons in a foreign country, a crime that carries a potential life sentence, and one count of producing child pornography, which carries up to 30 years in prison. The Justice Department announced the charges on Thursday (November 20) after filing an indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Attorneys for both defendants said the men will plead not guilty. Weisenburg’s attorney, David Finn, urged the public to “hold their horses,” saying the government’s characterization was “somewhat accurate yet wildly misleading.”
According to prosecutors, Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in January 2025 to receive military training in preparation for the planned coup. Weisenburg reportedly enrolled in the North Texas Fire Academy in 2024 but failed out six months later. The pair allegedly took Haitian Creole lessons, researched military-style rifles, and planned to move weapons by sailboat. Weisenburg even traveled to Thailand for sailing school, according to the indictment.
The two are also accused of plotting to recruit homeless individuals from Washington, D.C., to participate in the attempted overthrow. Prosecutors say Thomas moved his basic training assignment from Germany to Joint Base Andrews to help facilitate the effort.
If convicted, both men face decades or life in federal prison.
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