Two young men from Texas have been charged with plotting a violent takeover of a Caribbean island with the intention of killing its male population and turning women and children into s3x slaves, according to U.S. federal prosecutors. Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, are accused of planning an armed invasion of Gonave Island, located off the coast of Haiti, and attempting to recruit an army of homeless people to help carry out the attack.
According to an indictment, the two men allegedly discussed purchasing a sailboat and weapons before recruiting homeless individuals from the Washington, D.C. area to serve as a mercenary force. Prosecutors said their plan included “murdering all of the men on the island so that they could then turn all of the women and children into their s3x slaves” and staging a coup d’état to gain control.
Gonave Island, measuring 743 square kilometres and home to around 100,000 residents, is accessible only by boat and faces extreme poverty, famine, and chronic shortages. Prosecutors say Thomas told Weisenburg he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force earlier this year to gain skills that would support their planned invasion. Weisenburg allegedly enrolled in a fire academy near Dallas for similar reasons but dropped out, and later travelled to Thailand to learn how to sail but abandoned the lessons due to cost.
Both defendants are expected to enter not guilty pleas. Thomas’ attorney, John Helms, said, “They never tried to do any of this.” Weisenburg’s attorney, David Finn, urged the public to reserve judgment until evidence is presented, calling the case “the craziest thing” many have heard.
In addition to the alleged invasion plot, both men face charges of persuading a minor to produce child pornography, with material reportedly recovered from their devices. If convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, they face up to life in federal prison. The child pornography charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years.
Gonave Island has long suffered from neglect, with residents facing shortages of clean water, regular cholera outbreaks and widespread deforestation. Natural disasters, including earthquakes and hurricanes, have repeatedly devastated the island, deepening poverty and making recovery efforts difficult.