Federal authorities have now reportedly indicted two North Texas men in connection with an appalling and deeply disturbing plan to invade a Haitian island, murder its male population, and enslave women and children — a plot the Justice Department says the pair spent nearly a year preparing.
Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, were charged with conspiracy to murder, maim, or kidnap in a foreign country, along with production of child pornography. Both men now face the possibility of life in federal prison.
According to court records, from August 2024 through July 2025 the men allegedly conspired to build a private militia made up of homeless individuals recruited from Washington, D.C. Their goal, prosecutors say, was to overthrow and seize control of Gonâve, an island off the Haitian mainland populated by roughly 87,000 people.
Federal officials say the men attempted to prepare themselves for their twisted mission in a variety of ways. Both reportedly studied Haitian Creole to communicate with island residents. Thomas even enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, according to the indictment, with the explicit goal of gaining military skills that could support the planned attack. Weisenburg, meanwhile, enrolled in the North Texas Fire Academy in Rockwall to learn “command-and-control protocols” but failed out. He later traveled to Thailand to learn sailing, prosecutors said.
The indictment alleges the pair planned to buy a sailboat, stock it with firearms and ammunition, and then launch an attack in which they would kill every man on the island. After that, prosecutors say, their intention was to enslave the women and children — explicitly describing “rape fantasies” that they hoped to fulfill under their envisioned rule.
The charging documents reference additional co-conspirators, though none were named and no further details were provided.
An attorney for Thomas told The New York Times his client will plead not guilty. Weisenburg’s attorney, responding by email, encouraged skepticism of the government’s dramatic description, saying: “If anyone’s initial reaction to the government’s sensational press release was, ‘That sounds crazy, wild, impossible, or beyond belief,’ I would encourage them to hold that thought.”
If convicted on the conspiracy charges related to the alleged Haitian plot, both men face potential life sentences. The charges for production of child pornography carry an additional penalty of 15 to 30 years.
The indictment outlines one of the most grotesque and deranged plots federal authorities have uncovered in recent years — an extraordinary example of how dangerous individuals can become when left unchecked and how critical law enforcement is in preventing horrific violence, both at home and abroad.
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