A group of four U.S. citizens has been accused of plotting to carry out a coup d’état in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as per a criminal complaint unsealed in the District of Utah on Wednesday.
The individuals — Marcel Malanga, 22, Tyler Thompson, 22, Benjamin Zalman-Polun, 37, and Joseph Peter Moesser, 67 — face charges of conspiring to provide material support and resources, using weapons of mass destruction, bombing government facilities, and killing or abducting individuals in a foreign country, among other alleged offenses, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, left, Marcel Malanga and Tyler Thompson, all American citizens, attend a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)
The DOJ also accused the men of conspiring to acquire and use weapons of mass destruction during the coup.Â
They allegedly planned to use bombs that could be deployed to their targets, including people, private homes and public buildings, via drones.Â
In addition, they intended to attach a flamethrower device to a drone and use it as an incendiary device to light people on fire.
Thompson unpacks the flamethrower drone attachment from its box and displays it for the camera. (U.S. Department of Justice)
Earlier this month, the DRC president commuted Marcel Malanga, Thompson and Polun’s death sentences, switching them to life imprisonment.
If convicted, the men face a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison for each count of conspiring to provide material support and resources, and up to life in prison for each count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to bomb places of government facilities, and conspiracy to kill or kidnap persons in a foreign country.Â
Malanga and Thompson, if convicted, would also each face a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison for each count of taking a firearm out of the U.S. to engage in a felony.
Defendants were seen in a social media livestream during the attempted coup. (U.S. Department of Justice)
Malanga, Thompson and Polun are expected to make their initial appearances at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York. Moesser is expected to make his initial appearance on April 10 at the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah.
After their initial appearances in New York, it is expected that Malanga, Thompson and Polun will appear in Salt Lake City for further legal proceedings.
The case is being investigated by the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, with assistance by the FBI New York Field Office and the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Nairobi, Kenya, which oversees the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.
