Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, are accused of making plans to take over a island in Haiti, murder its male inhabitants and turn women and children into sex slaves
Two men have been accused of making sick plans to raise a ‘homeless army’ and invade an island before turning its inhabitants into sex slaves.
Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, from Dallas, Texas are alleged to have hatched the plot with the goal of killing all men on Haiti’s Gonave Island and sexually abusing women and children. Both men were formally charged in the US on Thursday with conspiracy to murder, maim or kidnap in a foreign country, along with production of child pornography over allegations they persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct.
Federal prosecutors said Weisenburg and Thomas planned to buy a boat and guns before recruiting members of the homeless population in the District of Columbia to serve as a mercenary force. One of the men even went far as joining the US military to train for an armed attack with the aim of achieving a coup d’état on the island, the indictment read.
Gonave Island is located about 38 miles off the coast of mainland Haiti and has a population of about 87,000 residents, covering roughly 290 square miles. Attorneys for both men said on Friday they will enter not guilty pleas. John Helms, who is Thomas’ attorney, said: “They never tried to do any of this.”
Mr Helms said that while he has not yet seen evidence, he believes prosecutors “are going to have a real hard time” trying to prove that Weisenburg and Thomas actually intended to carry out the plot. Weisenburg allegedly enrolled in a fire academy around Dallas to receive training that would be useful in the attack but failed out of the school. He then allegedly travelled to Thailand and planned to learn to sail, only to never end up enrolling in lessons because of the cost.
Thomas enlisted in the US Air Force in January, according to the indictment, and told Weisenburg in a social media message that he had joined the military to further their planned attack. While in the US Air Force, Thomas changed his assignment to Andrews Air Base in Maryland to help in the recruiting of homeless people in Washington, D.C., the indictment said.
The US Air Force Office of Special Investigations was among the investigating agencies, according to the US Attorney’s Office. The Air Force did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Thomas’ service on Friday. The men face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the child pornography charge and up to life in prison if convicted on the conspiracy charge.
