A 46-year-old Pakistani man, allegedly associated with Iran, was arrested on 12 July and is charged by the Justice Department with plotting to carry out political assassinations, including former President Donald Trump.
According to the charges filed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, Asif Raza Merchant is accused of travelling to New York City and working with a hitman to carry out the assassinations in late August or early September.
Merchant was arrested a day before Matthew Crooks shot at and wounded Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania, according to a complaint unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday, 6 August.
“For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General Soleimani,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens, and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security.”
Media reports indicate that US intelligence agencies were tracking a potential Iranian assassination plot against Trump in the weeks before the assassination attempt that led the Secret Service to increase security for the former president before his campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said, “Working on behalf of others overseas, Merchant planned the murder of US government officials on American soil.”
Who is Asif Raza Merchant?
- Asif Merchant is a citizen of Pakistan.
- He was born in approximately 1978 in Karachi, Pakistan.
- Merchant stated that he currently resides in Pakistan and has a wife and children there. He also has a wife and children in Iran.
- In his travel records to enter the United States, Merchant indicated frequent travel to Iran, Syria, and Iraq.
Timeline of Events
In April 2024, Merchant arrived in the country and contacted someone to help him with the plot, according to officials. The person ended up being a confidential source who reported the information to law enforcement, according to the Justice Department. Merchant allegedly again met up with the source in early June and explained the assassination plot, saying it was “not a one-time opportunity,” officials said.
The complaint further said, “Specifically, Merchant requested men who could do the killing, approximately 25 people who could perform a protest as a distraction after the murder occurred, and a woman to do ‘reconnaissance.”
According to the US Attorney’s Office, by mid-June, he met with the people he thought would carry out the hits who were actually undercover law enforcement officials.
In early June, Merchant met the CS (confidential source) in New York and explained his assassination plot. Merchant told the CS that the opportunity he had for the CS was not a one-time opportunity and would be ongoing. Merchant then made a “finger gun” motion with his hand, indicating that the opportunity was related to a killing. Merchant further stated that the intended victims would be “targeted here,” meaning in the United States. Merchant instructed the CS to arrange meetings with individuals whom Merchant could hire to carry out these actions. Merchant explained that his plot involved multiple criminal schemes: (1) stealing documents or USB drives from a target’s home; (2) planning a protest; and (3) killing a politician or government official.
According to officials, a final target was not selected when Merchant arranged to fly out of the US.
“Fortunately, the assassins Merchant allegedly tried to hire were undercover FBI Agents,” acting Assistant Director Christie Curtis of the FBI New York Field Office said in a statement.
It is reported that Merchant even paid the apparent hitmen $5,000 as an advance on the assassinations before making plans to leave the country when the killings took place. The apparent hitman stated, “Now we know we’re going forward. We’re doing this,” to which Merchant responded, “Yes, absolutely.”
But he was arrested on 12 July, the date he planned to leave the US.
