An Air Force service member is one of two Texas men accused of trying to seize control of a Haitian island in a violent coup and plotting to enslave its population. Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, was indicted by the Department of Justice on Thursday.

Thomas, an airman stationed in Texas, and his alleged co-conspirator Gavin Rivers Weisenberg, 21, were both charged with conspiracy to murder, maim, or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography. The Associated Press reports that both men intend to plead not guilty, according to their lawyers.

According to the indictment against them, the two made a plan to gather a group of militants and sail to Haiti in an armed expedition. They would take over Gonave Island, a 266-square-mile island off the coast. They allegedly planned to kill all of the men on the island and enslave the women and children and use them as sex slaves. The island has a population of roughly 87,000. They also researched and allegedly planned to buy “military-type rifles,” according to the indictment. They planned to use those with their cadre and take a sailboat to conquer an island with tens of thousands of people. 

The plot started in the summer of 2024, with Weisenberg and Thomas starting to learn Haitian Creole. According to the indictment, Thomas joined the Air Force in January 2025 to gain military skills to help prepare for the coup plot, while his co-conspirator trained as a firefighter; Weisenberg failed out of the fire academy shortly after starting. A spokesperson for Air Education and Training Command confirmed to Task & Purpose that Thomas was assigned to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland with the rank of airman basic.

The two spent months trying to recruit people to join their plot. Thomas even got his initial assignment station changed to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, using that location to try and recruit unhoused Americans in Washington, D.C. to join the coup and slavery conspiracy. It’s not clear how many people they got to join in on the plan. During this same period they also produced child pornography, according to the indictment. Weisenberg was arrested in July according to local media. It’s not clear when Thomas was arrested. However since his arrest he did undergo a Court Martial.

“He was recently tried and convicted in a Court Martial for three Article 134 Uniform Code of Military Justice violations, which include communicating indecent language and violations of federal law for offenses not capital,” the  Air Education and Training Command statement continued. “He was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge and three years confinement.”

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations, FBI and Celina Police Department are handling the investigation.

Both men face between 15-30 years in prison if convicted on the child pornography charge. A conviction on conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country carries up to life in prison. 

The post Airman indicted in plot to take over Haitian island, enslave population appeared first on Task & Purpose.