Family of American caught in Congo failed coup says their son went to Africa on vacation

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) — The family of an American caught up in a failed coup attempt in Congo said their son, Tyler Thompson, was in Africa on vacation with family friends and had not previously engaged in political activism, in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

“We are stunned and heartbroken by the videos we have seen from the coup attempt,” his stepmother, Miranda Thompson, said in a message on X, the social media platform. “We have no idea how he got wrapped up in this situation, which is completely out of character for him. We are certain he did not go to Africa with plans for political activism.”

Thompson was among at least two other Americans who were named by the Congolese army as part of a failed effort to overthrow the government in Kinshasa in the early hours of Sunday morning under an eccentric, self-exiled leader, Christian Malanga. The two other Americans allegedly involved were a convicted marijuana trafficker, Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, and Malanga’s 21-year-old son, Marcel, who was arrested by Congolese forces.