Two Texas men are charged in plotting to invade Haiti, including murdering the men and using the women and children as sex slaves, according to Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.
Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, were charged with conspiracy to murder, maim, or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography in Texas, according to court documents.
Court documents say that between August 2024 and July of this year, Weisenburg and Thomas allegedly conspired to “recruit and lead an unlawful expeditionary force” to Gonâve Island, an island in Haiti with about 87,000 residents. They planned it to carry out their “rape fantasies,” according to court documents.
The two men planned to buy a boat, firearms and ammunition and recruit people from the D.C.-area homeless population to serve as a “mercenary force” to invade the island and stage a coup d’etat.
They planned to murder all the men on the island so they could turn the women and children into their sex slaves, according to court documents.
Investigators said the men had been planning the invasion for nearly a year.
The men learned military tactics and Creole to prepare
Court documents say Weisenburg and Thomas took several steps to prepare for their coup to be successful in Haiti. They learned the Haitian Creole language, recruited other people to help them with the invasion, and researched and enrolled in schools to build up skills for the plan.
Thomas took the extra step of enlisting in the U.S. Air Force to “acquire military skills relevant to the invasion plan.” Prosecutors said Thomas changed his Air Force station assignment to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to be closer to the sea and facilitate recruiting people experiencing homelessness. They alledgedly believed they could pay them to join the armed invasion.
If the two men are convicted of the federal conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, they face up to life in prison. If they are convicted of of the federal production of child pornography charges, they face at least 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison.
The case is being investigated by the FBI, U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and Celina Police Department. Investigators said the invasion plan was discovered through online communications.
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