A buddy of a famous Congolese opposition leader’s son said he rejected down a six-figure offer to go from the United States as part of the family’s security detail in a failed coup attempt.
Congolese soldiers apprehended Marcel Malanga, the 21-year-old son of eccentric coup leader Christian Malanga, and a former classmate from their hometown of West Jordan, Utah, on Sunday morning, following his father’s death in a shootout while resisting arrest. Tyler Thompson, 21, a high school football teammate, was one of two Americans captured following an unsuccessful attempt at Kinshasa’s presidential palace.
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Following the attack and another on the property of a close associate of President Felix Tshisekedi, six individuals were killed and scores arrested, including three Americans, according to Congolese army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Sylvain Ekenge.
Daniel Gonzalez, a former teammate of the two Utah residents involved in the failed coup, told The Associated Press that Marcel promised him $50,000 to $100,000 to spend four months in Congo as a security guard for his politician father. The 22-year-old FedEx employee seriously considered the offer, but noted that it lacked specific details. He eventually declined, preferring to spend the summer with his fiancée.
Gonzalez said, “I feel really sad for Tyler and Marcel, but at the end of the day, I can just be grateful that I didn’t go because I would have ended up in the same scary situation.”
Marcel’s generous offer to Gonzalez gives light on how he may have tempted Thompson to join him on what his stepmother, Miranda, claimed was a vacation.
It was one of several approaches made by the coup leader’s American son to old football friends in what many saw as a desperate attempt to bring someone with him to Congo. He presented the trip to some as a family holiday, while others saw it as a service mission to build wells in drought-stricken regions.
Many teammates told the Associated Press that Thompson had alluded to financial incentives, telling one acquaintance that the trip might be a “big financial opportunity,” even though it’s unclear whether he received any promises.
Thompson’s family asserts that they tricked him into engaging in an international conflict as a political pawn. They have not had a direct connection with their son since the coup and are concerned about his safety, according to his stepmother.
Marcel’s mother, Brittney Sawyer, stated that her kid is innocent and has followed his father.
Christian Malanga, the assassinated head of the Congolese opposition political organization, declared himself president of a shadow government in exile, which he dubbed the “New Zaire.” On his website, he described himself as a refugee who arrived in Salt Lake City with his family in the 1990s, pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities in gold mining and used car sales before returning to Congo to fight for political reforms.
He claimed that he suffered torture and imprisonment while campaigning for the Congolese Parliament. He later issued a manifesto outlining measures to overhaul Congo’s security forces, describing his campaign as an attempt to rally other emigrants against the “current Congolese dictatorship government regime.”
“Marcel was quite secretive about his father. “He didn’t know him very well until he spent last summer in Africa,” Gonzalez added. “Marcel had no idea what he was getting us into; otherwise, he would not have offered. “He’s one of the best friends anyone could have.”
On Sunday morning, Christian Malanga began livestreaming video from within the castle on social media. He appears alongside his armed son, who swiftly covers his face with a neck gaiter and surveys his surroundings with wide eyes. Congo officials haven’t said how the assailants got inside.
Gonzalez, of Herriman, Utah, said he corresponded with Marcel about the financial offer via Snapchat in conversations that have since vanished in the months leading up to the coup attempt. He was surprised to learn how the excursion turned out.
Marcel told Gonzalez that his father had agreed to let him hire a companion to keep him company during his summer abroad. He appeared thrilled to be able to provide such a large sum of money to a close buddy in need, Gonzalez explained.
The Malangas had promised on-the-job training, full travel expense coverage, and the opportunity to go to a new part of the world while earning money, he added. Marcel insisted that it was safe but refused to reveal any information about his father’s past.
Despite the United States State Department strongly forbidding travel to Congo, neither Gonzalez nor his mother felt the trip would be dangerous, he said. However, he turned it down when his fiancée requested that he not leave for four months.
He later observed private Snapchat footage taken by Marcel, in which Thompson appeared terrified as armed Congolese troops surrounded their vehicle. Gonzalez’s final Snapchat conversation with his pal before their capture inquired whether Thompson was okay and urged them to stay cautious.
Marcel told him that they were.
Other old football teammates, like Luke Barbee and Jaden Lalor, had heard various pitches for the trip and wondered why Marcel seemed so eager to bring someone along. Neither could understand their buddies’ potential involvement in a violent attack.
“I consider Marcel a brother to me and Tyler a friend, and I truly believe Marcel’s father must have pressured them for his own wants,” Lalor stated. “I just want them back safely.”
