Two men from North Texas have been charged over a violent plot that prosecutors say included an armed coup on the Haitian island of Gonave, according to the Justice Department. Gavin Weisenburg, 21, of Allen, and Tanner Thomas, 20, of Argyle, along with co-conspirators, allegedly planned to murder all men on the island and capture the women and children to be enslaved as “sex slaves,” an indictment filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas says.
“The co-conspirators conducted research, reconnaissance, recruiting, planning, and sought training to effectuate their plan,” the indictment states. Both men are charged with conspiracy to kill or kidnap persons in a foreign country and face one count of producing child pornography. The conspiracy charge carries a possible life sentence; the child pornography charge carries up to 30 years.
Weisenburg’s attorney, David Finn, said his client will plead not guilty and urged the public to “hold their horses,” calling the government’s release potentially misleading. Thomas’ attorney, John Helms, said his client will also plead not guilty and will be “defended vigorously against these charges.”
Federal prosecutors allege Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in January 2025 to obtain military training useful for the planned attack. They say Weisenburg enrolled in the North Texas Fire Academy in Rockwall in August 2024 to train for the coup but failed out nearly six months later.
Prosecutors allege the men began planning in August 2024 and communicated about the plot on social media. They reportedly took Haitian Creole lessons, researched ammunition and weapons including military-style rifles, and planned to transport firearms, ammunition and explosives by sailboat. Weisenburg is accused of traveling to Thailand to enroll in sailing school to prepare for purchasing a sailboat and a voyage to Haiti.
The indictment also alleges the pair plotted to recruit and hire homeless people from Washington, D.C., to help overthrow Haiti’s government on Gonave. Prosecutors say Thomas changed his basic training assignment from Ramstein Air Base in Germany to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to facilitate recruitment in the capital. A U.S. Air Force spokesperson did not respond to an NPR request for comment.
Gonave Island lies about 30 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince and is home to roughly 87,000 people.