Two Texas men plot to invade Haitian island. What they planned next was just as unhinged

Content warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of murder, child abuse, and sexual assault. Please take care while reading.

Two young men from North Texas are under federal indictment for what prosecutors describe as an astonishingly depraved and dangerous plot.

Between August 2024 and July 2025, prosecutors say Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, of Allen, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, of Argyle, conspired to invade remote Gonâve Island off the coast of Haiti with the intention of committing unspeakable violence in a coup d’état.

An army of unhoused D.C. residents

According to the Eastern District of Texas United States Attorney’s Office, their blueprint involved buying a sailboat, accumulating weapons, and recruiting people experiencing homelessness in Washington, D.C., to act as a makeshift mercenary force. Court filings claim they intended to murder all the men on Gonâve and enslave the island’s women and children to fulfill depraved “r—e fantasies.”

According to prosecutors, the pair studied Haitian Creole, which they speak on Gonâve, to communicate once on the island, made detailed logistical plans, and enrolled in courses to gather skills they believed would support the operation. One of the accused even joined the U.S. Air Force, allegedly to gain military training for the assault.

Meanwhile, his partner signed up for a local fire academy in Texas as part of his preparation, though he never attended due to cost. Prosecutors say the conspirators also researched weapons, rifles, ammunition, and were actively sourcing a sailboat for transportation.

Gonâve Island, a part of Haiti, is home to tens of thousands of people, and the alleged plot has raised deep concern not only in U.S. legal circles but also among human rights watchers in the Caribbean. The island lacks legal and judicial infrastructure, and it is difficult to reach from Haiti.

They never attempted their coup d’état

Despite taking these steps, defense lawyers argue there is no concrete proof the men actually attempted to carry out their plan. According to Thomas’s attorney, they never intended to execute the plot. Still, the men are charged with conspiracy to murder, maim, or kidnap in a foreign country, as well as production of child sexual abuse material, over allegations involving a minor.

If convicted of the conspiracy charge, they could face life in prison; the child pornography charge carries a penalty of 15 to 30 years. Weisenberg and Thomas’ attorneys believe the prosecution will have a “real hard time’ proving the two men seriously intended to follow through with the plan. One attorney, David Finn, agreed the scheme is one of the “craziest things” he’d ever heard, the AP reported.