Two U.S. Citizens Arrested for Attempting Coup in Gambia
Two U.S. citizens were indicted this week for, of all things, attempting to overthrow the government of The Gambia and declaring themselves its rulers, while not being affiliated with the CIA.
The Gambia, which is this itty-bitty-bitty country here, currently has a leader: President Yahya Jammeh, who himself came to power during a coup and was elected president in 1996. (And yes, its official name is The Gambia.) But according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota by the FBI, Cherno Nije and Papa Faal, two men who hold dual citizenship in the US and The Gambia, believed they could be better rulers — and to that end, attempted a coup d’etat along with ” 8 to 12 co-conspirators”, Gambians living in various countries abroad. Once Jammeh was safely deposed, Nije would declare himself interim ruler and “restore democracy to the Gambian people,” hopefully without killing any Gambians along the way.
BuzzFeed reports that there are few details of the attempted coup, meaning it was probably not successful.
Faal fled to the U.S. Embassy in Senegal and turned himself in, while Nije, who financed the coup and was outside The Gambia while it was underway, was arrested upon his return to the United States. The Department of Justice strongly condemned their attempt, and in a statement from Attorney General Eric Holder, promised to hold the two men accountable for their actions.
According to US law, is very much illegal for normal citizens to attempt to overthrow “any colony, district, or people with whom the United States is at peace,” though that’s pretty questionable when it comes to the CIA.
[BuzzFeed]
[Image via Shutterstock]
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