A spokesperson for the Congo army said 3 Americans from Utah were detained following the foiled coup on May 19

At least three Americans were involved in a foiled coup in the Democratic Republic of Congo last week that left six dead and dozens of others arrested.

On May 19 at 4:30 a.m., 50 armed men — allegedly led by Christian Malanga, a self-exiled opponent of the Congolese government who once lived in Utah — staged the coup in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital.

 What happened

Armed assailants, who were livestreaming, first attacked the home of Vital Kamerhe, a politician who has since been elected speaker of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s national assembly. After a 40-minute gunfight, the assailants attempted to infiltrate the presidential palace, home to President Félix Tshisekedi, who was unharmed in the incident.

Congolese army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Sylvain Ekenge told the Associated Press the attempted coup was “nipped in the bud by Congolese defense and security forces.”

Ekenge said six people, including Malanga and two police officers, were killed and dozens were arrested, including three U.S. citizens: Malanga’s 21-year-old son Marcel; his former classmate Tyler Thompson, 21, from their hometown of West Jordan, Utah; and convicted marijuana trafficker Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun.

🇺🇸 Why were Americans involved?

Christian Malanga, 41, referred to himself as the president of the “New Zaire” government, an alternative or shadow government in Congo that he created in 2017. According to AP, his website bio said he was a refugee who settled in Salt Lake City in the 1990s, started a family and became a father to eight kids. For employment, he sold used cars and was involved in gold mining before returning to Congo to run for political office and then eventually leading the uprising. (The State Department said it could not confirm whether Malanga was a U.S. citizen, according to AP.)