Americans convicted in Congo of a botched coup attempt now face US charges

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Three Americans repatriated to the United States from Congo this week have been charged with participating in an elaborate coup attempt aimed at overthrowing the African nation’s government last year, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday.

A fourth man alleged by prosecutors to be an expert in explosives was also charged with aiding the plot.

The criminal charges arise from the same set of allegations that led to three of the defendants being detained in Congo and receiving death sentences. The sentences were later commuted to punishments of life imprisonment before the men were ultimately transferred Tuesday into U.S. custody to face charges in an American court. Their repatriation came amid efforts by Congolese authorities to reach a minerals deal with the U.S. in exchange for security support to fight rebels in the country’s conflict-hit east.

A criminal complaint unsealed by prosecutors Wednesday follows a long-running FBI investigation and accuses the men of conspiring to provide weapons, explosives and other support to a rebel army that was formed to try to overthrow the government.

Among the three Americans is 22-year-old Marcel Malanga, son of opposition figure Christian Malanga, who led the coup attempt that targeted the presidential palace in Kinshasa. The elder Malanga livestreamed from the palace during the attempt and was later killed while resisting arrest, Congolese authorities said.

Prosecutors say the goal of the plot was to establish a new government known as New Zaire and install Christian Malanga as its president. The younger Malanga identified himself as the “Chief of Staff of the Zaire army” and acted as a leader of the rebel forces, court documents say.

Christian Malanga, who was born in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, had described himself on his website as a refugee who settled in the U.S. with his family in the 1990s. The self-proclaimed leader of a shadow government in exile sold used cars and dabbled in gold mining before persuading his Utah-born son to join in the foiled coup. Christian Malanga was convicted in Utah of assault with a firearm in 2001 and had charges dismissed in several other criminal cases.

Marcel Malanga, Tyler Thompson Jr., 22, and Benjamin Zalman-Polun, 37, were returned to the U.S. Tuesday. They are expected to make their first court appearance in Brooklyn.

The alleged explosives expert, Joseph Peter Moesser, 67, is set to appear in court in Salt Lake City on Thursday. Prosecutors say that as part of the plot, he provided explosives training and instructions at his Utah home and contributed weapons.

Thompson’s attorney, Skye Lazaro, said Wednesday she did not yet have information to share. No attorneys were listed in court documents for the other three defendants.

The men are charged with crimes including conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to bomb government facilities and conspiracy to kill or kidnap persons in a foreign country. Those charges, which taken together could result in lengthy prison sentences in the event of a conviction, could change if and when the defendants are indicted by a grand jury.

The complaint provides the most detailed chronicle to date of the planned May 2024 overthrow of Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi. At least six people, including Christian Malanga, died when armed men in camouflage fatigues led an attack on the homes of the president and a deputy prime minister.

The charging document makes clear that the alleged coup was the result of a months-in-the-making plot rather than a haphazard idea, with the men accused of recruiting friends in the U.S., acquiring drones and military-style weapons and also participating in extensive firearms training. The men are also alleged to have hijacked a bus and raided a Congolese police station to obtain weapons for the deadly attack.

Malanga told a Congolese judge that his father threatened to kill him if he did not follow his orders.

“We’re about to go take out some terrorists,” Malanga is alleged to have told a friend he was recruiting to go to Africa. The friend is not named in the complaint.

Other friends told The Associated Press that Malanga had offered up to $100,000 to join him on a mysterious “security job” in Congo.

Prosecutors are seeking to keep all four men in jail as the case moves forward.

“The four defendants pose an extreme danger to the community and present an unmanageable risk of flight," the Justice Department said in a detention memo.

It notes that Moesser, a longtime associate of Christian Malanga, faced allegations of criminal conduct years earlier when he was accused of trying to place explosive black powder on an plane departing from the Salt Lake City airport. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to a form of probation.

Thompson, a friend and former high school football teammate of Marcel Malanga in Utah, is identified in court documents as a drone specialist who prosecutors say shopped for a flamethrower attachment that he planned to use to “light people on fire.”

His family has said he flew to Africa for what they believed was his first vacation abroad, paid for by Christian Malanga.

Witnesses observed Thompson and the younger Malanga conducting drone test flights and firing handguns and rifles at a shooting range near Salt Lake City before they left for Africa, according to the complaint.

Moesser allegedly helped Thompson and Malanga install the flamethrower attachment and showed them how to use drones to drop pipe bombs. Messages obtained by investigators show Moesser conspiring with Christian Malanga to ship explosives and AR-15 rifles to Congo, the complaint said.

Zalman-Polun reportedly traveled to Utah to help Malanga recruit soldiers for their rebel army. If the plot had been successful, Zalman-Polun would have become Christian Malanga's chief of staff or would “work in finance” in the new administration, court documents say.

The complaint also places three of the defendants at the scene itself, using images and posts from the men’s social media accounts, including livestream videos that Christian Malanga recorded.

Tucker reported from Washington.

FILE - Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun sits in court in Kinshasa with 52 other defendants Friday June 7, 2024, accused of a role in last month's attempted coup in Congo led by little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga in which six people were killed. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi, File)

FILE - From left Tyler Thompson Jr., Marcel Malanga and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, right, all American citizens, face the court in Kinshasa with 52 other defendants on June 7, 2024, accused of a role in last month's attempted coup in Congo led by little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga in which six people were killed. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi, File)

FILE - American Marcel Malanga arrives for 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, File)

FILE - Christian Malanga, president of the United Congolese Party, attends seminars discussing Africa's future in the global economy at the Spencer Fox Eccles Business building at the University of Utah on Oct. 20, 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Scott G Winterton/The Deseret News via AP, File)

In this unknown location and date image released by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Christian Malanga, left, and Marcel Malanga can be seen wearing military-style uniforms which was posted to social media on Jan. 6, 2024. (U.S. Dept. of Justice via AP)

FILE - Rebecca Higbee the mother of Tyler Thompson, points to her son and his friend Marcel during his 21st birthday with his family on May 30, 2024, in West Jordan, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Tyler Thompson Jr, addresses the court in Kinshasa with 52 other defendants Friday June 7, 2024, accused of a role in last month's attempted coup in Congo, led by little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga, in which six people were killed. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi, file)

FILE - 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, file)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states after at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard around 2 a.m. local time Saturday in the capital, Caracas.

The Pentagon and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas. Another military installation in the capital was without power.

People in various neighborhoods rushed to the streets. Some could be seen in the distance from various areas of Caracas.

“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”

Venezuela’s government, in the statement, called on its supporters to take to the streets.

“People to the streets!” the statement said. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that President Nicolás Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.”

This comes as the U.S. military has been targeting, in recent days, alleged drug-smuggling boats. On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to negotiating an agreement with the U.S. to combat drug trafficking.

Maduro also said in a pretaped interview aired Thursday that the U.S. wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the monthslong pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.

Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism in the U.S. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels in what was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes on boats in September.

U.S. President Donald Trump for months had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land. The U.S. has also seized sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump ordered a blockade of others in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s economy.

The U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.

Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported on the explosions in Caracas on Saturday, showing images of the Venezuelan capital. Iran has been close to Venezuela for years, in part due to their shared enmity of the U.S.

Pedestrians walk past the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Residents evacuate a building near the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)