Texas men charged in plot to invade Haitian island, kill all men, take women as sex slaves and use DC homeless as mercenaries

Two men from North Texas were indicted for plotting to invade an island belonging to Haiti, murder all the men on the island, and then force the women and children to be their sex slaves, according to the Department of Justice. 

Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, as well as Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, were indicted on federal grand jury charges with conspiracy to murder, maim, or kidnap in a foreign country, as well as the production of child pornography, per a press release from the DOJ. 

According to federal authorities, "Between August 2024 and July 2025, Weisenburg and Thomas are alleged to have conspired to recruit and lead an unlawful expeditionary force to the Island of Gonave, which is part of the Republic of Haiti, for the purpose of carrying out their rape fantasies." The population on the island is approximately 100,000. 

They had planned to get a sailboat, bring weapons, and recruit members of the District of Columbia-area homeless population to be mercenary forces in order to invade the Gonave Island of Haiti and enact their own coup. "Weisenburg and Thomas intended to murder all of the men on the island so that they could then turn all of the women and children into their sex slaves," the DOJ added in the press release. 

The pair of men made a number of overt actions to on the plot, including learning Haitian Creole, recruiting others, as well as enrolling in schools to get skills needed to carry out the plan. Thomas also enlisted in the military for this purpose. 

If conviced on conspiring to murder those in a forign country, they could face life in prison. If convicted on the child pornogrphy charges, they could face between 15 adn 30 years in prison.