WEST JORDAN, Utah — A Utah family whose son was involved in a thwarted coup in Congo said they are unsure if he is still alive as they struggle to get U.S. officials to contact him and two others two weeks after their arrest. Include Americans.
Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, flew to Africa in April with his former high school football teammate, Marcel Malanga, 21, for what his family said was a vacation, with all expenses paid by Marcel’s father. But the route may have included more than just sightseeing. Other teammates claimed Marcel offered up to $100,000 to join him on a “security job” in Congo.
Christian Malanga, who considered himself president of a shadow government in exile, live-streamed his attack in Kinshasa on May 19. It shows his Utah-born son with an assault rifle at his side, surrounded by dozens of armed men in military uniforms. while threatening President Felix Tshisekedi from the presidential palace. Tyler was not seen in the livestream, but other videos circulating on social media show him tied up and bloodied as Congolese soldiers take the Americans into custody.
The eccentric coup leader was shot dead after resisting arrest, the Congolese army said. A total of six people were killed and dozens arrested after that attack, and another against the president’s close ally, Vital Kamerhe, Congolese army spokesman Brig. General Sylvain Ekenge said.
A spokesperson for the US embassy in Congo, Monica Shie, said on Thursday that they had not yet been given access to the US detainees and did not know when they would appear in court.
As weeks pass with no evidence of life, Tyler’s parents worry that he may have succumbed to an illness – he contracted malaria earlier in the trip – or that he could suffer brain damage from one of the many blows to the head that can be seen were in videos circulating on social media. They rush to find a credible lawyer in Congo while urging US officials to consider him unlawfully captured.
“We need the people in the embassy to push harder,” Tyler’s stepfather, Jason Higbee, said in an interview with The Associated Press at a family home in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan, Utah.
The family also turned to Utah’s elected leaders, including its governor and senators, but a foreign affairs expert said the chances are high because the State Department tends to be conservative in intervening for U.S. citizens accused of such serious crimes. The offices of Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee did not immediately respond to telephone messages seeking comment.
Jared Genser, an international human rights lawyer who has represented Americans imprisoned abroad, said Tyler, Marcel and the third American prisoner, Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, are unlikely to return home anytime soon.
“I cannot imagine any short-term scenario in which the U.S. government would advocate for their release,” Genser said. Unless the story changes dramatically, “the US will say this is not a matter we can get involved in.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the attack and offered to help Congo investigate.
The thwarted coup attempt came at a difficult time for Tshisekedi’s ruling party. Days after the attack on Kamerhe’s home, the national assembly voted him in as president, a crucial step toward forming a government after December elections.
Tyler’s family claims he had no knowledge of the elder Malanga’s intentions, had no plans for political activism, and had no intention of even entering the Congo – they were only supposed to go to South Africa and Eswatini travel, formerly known as Swaziland, his stepmother Miranda. Thompson, said.
The Thompsons hope that Tyler can be tried as an individual, separate from Marcel or the others.
Marcel’s mother, Brittney Sawyer, said her son is innocent and had simply followed his father. She did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.
While passing around a tissue box Thursday, Tyler’s parents and stepparents laughed as his 6-year-old brother, Miles, ran around the living room in a superhero costume and assured them that he is assembling a team of superheroes to bring his brother home.
Rebecca Higbee said she had received many happy photos and phone calls from her son earlier in the trip and had no reason to believe it was anything other than a normal vacation. She even read Christian Malanga’s Wikipedia page before they left and said he looked like a “great guy.”
“I really thought it was going to be a great growing experience for him,” she said. Now it’s “every mother’s nightmare.”
Disco balls, piñatas and helium tanks from the Thompsons’ party planning company – Tyler and Marcel’s workplace – filled the entryway of the family home.
Tyler had plans to open his own construction company when he returned from Africa, his father, Tyler Thompson Sr., said. His greatest fear is that his son will not achieve those dreams.
Two weeks without embassy contact is worrying, Genser said, but not entirely unusual in emerging democracies. The State Department strongly discourages travel to Congo, warning that the country’s ability to provide emergency consular services is “extremely limited.”
The families must relentlessly demand quick access to the embassy, Genser said, because prolonged incommunicado detention can protect against torture or ill-treatment.
“We feel helpless that we can’t talk to him,” Tyler’s father said through tears. “There is no evidence that he is still alive, so we are taking it hour by hour.”
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Jessica Donati reported from Dakar, Senegal.
