Overview
- Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, were indicted in the Eastern District of Texas on counts including conspiracy to murder, mutilate or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography.
- Prosecutors allege the plan called for buying a sailboat, sailing to La Gonâve in Haiti, killing male residents, overthrowing local authorities, and forcing women and minors into sexual slavery.
- Filings describe preparations from August 2024 through July 2025, including weapons research, efforts to learn Haitian Creole, and attempts to recruit homeless people in Washington, D.C.
- Thomas allegedly enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and sought reassignment to Andrews Air Force Base to aid recruiting, while Weisenburg enrolled in a Dallas firefighter academy and traveled to Thailand to pursue sailing instruction.
- The FBI, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Celina, Texas Police Department are investigating, and prosecutors say the charges carry potential life imprisonment for the conspiracy count and up to 30 years for the child pornography charge.