Ever heard of someone planning to rob an entire island and stage a coup? The thought is bizarre, but it has actually happened in real life. Well, we’re talking about two recently arrested Texas men who are now facing charges for their detailed plans of invading a Haitian island for the sake of their fantasies to create a coup out of it. They planned to specifically attack the Gonave Island and target men, women, and children mercilessly. The suspects, identified as Gavin Rivers Weisenburg and Tanner Christopher Thomas, even considered recruiting a mercenary force to carry out their raiding plans.
Further information shared by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas revealed that the two of them had made extensive preparations to carry out their plan. They even made arrangements with the military enlistment office and gathered help from the fire academy and a sailing school. Weisenburg (aged 20) and Thomas (aged 21) are now charged with conspiracy to murder, maim, and kidnap in a foreign country. Charges for the production of child sexual abuse material were also a part of their two-count indictment, felony charges.
Additional details about the extent of the planning and plotting the two men pursued also included enrolling in the North Texas Fire Academy. But they were dismissed from the program within 6 months. Later, they traveled to Thailand in the hope of joining a sailing school. However, they abandoned those plans due to cost.
Tanner Christopher Thomas then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Here, he gained sufficient military skills for an invasion. Thomas then changed his recruiting station to Maryland to recruit homeless people from Washington, D.C., who would serve his plans and act as mercenaries to invade the island. The U.S. Air Force has yet to confirm his enrollment or to investigate his service during the period he joined.
Two north Texas men have been charged in a plot that included invading an island off Haiti, murdering the men on the island, and enslaving women and children.
Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, of Allen, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, of Argyle were named in an indictment returned… pic.twitter.com/Lvn2DUSAC6
— FBI Dallas (@FBIDallas) November 21, 2025
All of these plans the two men carried out in complete secrecy over almost one year, from August 2024 to July 2025. The loophole that helped the authorities get a handle on the planning both were doing was discovered through one of their online communications. Currently, all three involved agencies of the FBI, U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and Celina Police Department are investigating the case.
The court documents reveal that they had all logistical and operational plans in place to carry out a perfect plan to invade the island, which is a part of the Republic of Haiti. Gavin and Tanner perfected speaking Haitian Creole for their benefit and recruited people who aligned with their plans.
In defense, both the attorneys of the two suspects have put forth entirely different narratives of their plans to rob and invade the island. According to John Helms, the attorney for Tanner Thomas, all the allegations are baseless, and none of the claims are true. Meanwhile, David Finn, the attorney for Gavin Rivers, called it entirely impossible for anyone to plan such a massive invasion.
He said, “An indictment is simply an allegation. And while there is some truth to the allegations, I believe that it will become clear what actually did, did not, and could not have happened. If your initial response to the government’s press release was, ‘That sounds crazy, impossible, and absurd,’ you might be on to something important. Reserve judgment and don’t buy into the hype — at least not yet.”
With serious charges pressed against them, both men have pleaded not guilty, according to their respective attorneys. Since the case involves serious federal charges, there may still be two possible convictions they’re likely to face. If convicted of federal conspiracy to commit a crime in a foreign country, Gavin and Tanner will face lifetime imprisonment.
