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

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. Photo: AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Three Americans repatriated to the United States from Congo this week were charged Wednesday by the U.S. Justice Department with staging an elaborate coup attempt aimed at overthrowing the African nation’s government.

A fourth man alleged by prosecutors to be a bomb-making expert was also charged for aiding the plot.

The complaint stems from 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.

Following a long-running FBI investigation, the Justice Department accused the men of providing training, weapons, equipment and other support to a rebel army that was formed to try to overthrow the government last year.

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, who livestreamed from the palace during the attempt, was later killed while resisting arrest, Congolese authorities said.

Prosecutors say the accused wanted to establish a new government

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.

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

The alleged explosives expert, Joseph Peter Moesser, 67, was due to appear in court in Salt Lake City Thursday.

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 places of 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 once the defendants are indicted by a grand jury.

Justice Department: Alleged coup was the result of a months-in-the-making plot

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 men in camouflage fatigues led an attack on the homes of the president and a deputy prime minister.

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 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 wound up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to a form of probation.

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 a drone and military-style weapons and also participating in extensive firearms training.

Marcel 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,” Marcel 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 the younger Malanga had offered up to $100,000 to join him on a mysterious “security job” in Congo.

Prosecutors say defendants include a drone specialist and bomb-making expert

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 in Utah 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, a longtime associate of Christian Malanga, allegedly helped Thompson and the younger 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 the younger 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, according to court documents.

The complaint also places three of the defendants at the scene itself, using images and posts from the men’s social media accounts.

Livestream videos that prosecutors say were taken from Christian Malanga’s social media platform depict him filming Marcel Malanga lifting a weapon and demonstrating his shooting form at the Palais de la Nation, the president’s official residence, according to the complaint.

Another video depicts Marcel Malanga holding an Uzi and saying, “It’s jammed,” while trying to manipulate it, the complaint says.

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
___

Tucker reported from Washington.