Texas men charged over Haiti island takeover plot to kill and rape residents

Two men from Texas have been charged with conspiring to seize control of a remote Haitian island through armed force, with federal prosecutors alleging they planned to kill all the men and sexually assault women and children.

Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, both from the Dallas area, were indicted on Thursday on charges of conspiracy to murder, maim or kidnap in a foreign country, the US Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Texas announced.

Both also face charges of producing child pornography for allegedly persuading a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct.

Court documents accuse the men of planning to recruit homeless people from the Washington area to join their attempted coup in Haiti, purchase a sailboat and seize power on Gonâve Island, home to some 87,000 residents.

Once there, they allegedly planned to kill all the men on the island and use “the women and children as sex slaves,” according to the indictment.

Gonâve covers roughly 751 square kilometres and is the largest of the islands surrounding Hispaniola. The island is suffering from poverty, a lack of access to water, and is disconnected from the rest of Haiti.

Lawyers for both defendants said on Friday their clients will plead not guilty. "They never tried to do any of this," said John Helms, representing Thomas.

Helms said that while he has not reviewed the government's evidence, he believes prosecutors will struggle to prove Weisenburg and Thomas genuinely intended to execute such a scheme.

David Finn, Weisenburg's lawyer, urged restraint in judging the case. People have told him it is "the craziest thing" they have heard, he said, adding: "Yeah, it is."

Fire academy in Dallas and sailing school in Thailand

The indictment alleges the men worked on the plot from August 2024 through July. Preparations allegedly included researching weapons and ammunition and planning to acquire military-style rifles. Prosecutors claim both men attempted to learn Haitian Creole.

Weisenburg allegedly enrolled in a fire academy near Dallas to gain valuable training for the attack but failed to complete the programme. He then travelled to Thailand with the intent to learn sailing but never enrolled in lessons due to cost, according to the indictment.

Thomas enlisted in the US Air Force in January and told Weisenburg via social media he had joined the military to advance their planned attack, the indictment states.

While serving, Thomas changed his assignment to Andrews Air Base in Maryland to assist in recruiting homeless people in Washington, prosecutors allege.

The US Air Force Office of Special Investigations was among the agencies investigating, according to the US Attorney's Office. The Air Force did not immediately respond to enquiries about Thomas' service on Friday.

Both men face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the child pornography charge and up to life imprisonment if found guilty of conspiracy.