Satellite image of Haiti including Gonête Island.
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Two North Texas men have been charged with violent plots, including an armed coup on the Haitian island of Gonave, according to the Justice Department.
According to an indictment filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Gavin Weisenberg, 21, of Allen, and Tanner Thomas, 20, of Argyle, along with other co-conspirators, planned to murder all the men in the Haitian territory and enslave the women and children as “sex slaves” before taking over the island.
“The co-conspirators conducted research, reconnaissance, recruitment, planning, and sought training to bring their plan into effect,” the indictment reads. “The goal of the conspiracy was to take military control of Gonawe Island by killing all the men on the island and capturing all the women.”
Both men have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping of persons in a foreign country and one count of producing child pornography. If found guilty on conspiracy charges, he could face life imprisonment. Child pornography charges are punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Weisenberg’s attorney David Finn told NPR in a statement Sunday that he encourages everyone to “hold their horses” and that his client will not plead guilty.
“While the government press release has some limited factual basis, I am reminded that it may be somewhat accurate but also extremely misleading,” Finn wrote in an email.
Thomas’ attorney John Helms said in an email to NPR late Sunday that his client would also plead not guilty and that his team “will vigorously defend him against these charges.”
Federal prosecutors allege that Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in January 2025 to receive military training that “would be useful in carrying out his armed coup attack.”
According to the indictment, Weisenberg enrolled at the North Texas Fire Academy in Rockwall, Texas, to train for the coup in August 2024, but dropped out of the program after about six months.
According to prosecutors, the men also conspired to recruit and employ homeless people from Washington, D.C., to overthrow Haiti’s government on Gonête. In March, Thomas moved his basic training assignment from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, to facilitate the recruitment of homeless people in the nation’s capital. A U.S. Air Force spokesperson did not respond Sunday to an NPR request for comment on Thomas’ military service.
Prosecutors say Weisenberg and Thomas began planning the attack in August 2024 and talked about the plan on social media. Both took training in the Haitian Creole language and researched ammunition and weapons, including military-type rifles. According to the indictment, the two planned to transport firearms, ammunition and explosives by sailboat. Weisenberg reportedly traveled to Thailand to purchase a sailboat and enroll in sailing school in preparation for the trip to Haiti.
Gonves Island is located about 30 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince and prosecutors say it is home to about 87,000 people.
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