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(by Mike Heuer, UPI) — A Pakistani national was indicted Tuesday for allegedly attempting to commit an act of terrorism across national boundaries and a murder-for-hire plan targeting former President Donald Trump and others.
Prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York federal court charged Asif Merchant, 46, also known as Asif Raza Merchant, after federal law enforcement arrested him on July 12 [while trying to leave the country], the Department of Justice announced in a press release Wednesday.
If convicted, Merchant could be sentenced to life in prison.
“The Justice Department has brought multiple cases against individuals working on behalf of the Iranian government to lethally target Americans in the United States,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on August 7. “But as I said last week, we expect that these threats will continue and that these cases will not be the last.”
“As these terrorism and murder-for-hire charges against Asif Merchant demonstrate, we will continue to hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against Americans,” Garland said this week. “The Justice Department will not tolerate Iran’s efforts to target our country’s public officials and endanger our national security,” Garland added.
The federal court filings against Merchant say he spent time in Iran before arriving in the United States in April. [Merchant told authorities he has a wife and children in Iran and a wife and children in Pakistan.]
Prosecutors say Merchant went to New York and contacted someone he thought would help him kill Trump, but that person reported the plot to law enforcement and became a confidential source for the FBI.
Merchant in early June met with the informant in New York to discuss the assassination plot and suggested more would be forthcoming, the DOJ said.
Merchant allegedly told the informant to arrange meetings with individuals who could help carry out targeted killings in the United States, which Merchant didn’t know were undercover law enforcement officers.
Prosecutors said the criminal acts would include stealing documents or USB drives from the homes of Trump and others targeted for assassination, plan a protest and kill a politician or a government official.
Prosecutors say Merchant discussed how the first targeted individual would die under potential assassination scenarios and warned the informant the targeted person would have “security all around.”
[Merchant pushed the informant to establish a yarn-dyed clothing business as a front for their communications, and used clothing items as code words, according to the Justice Department. Merchant allegedly used fabric weights as code words for different parts of the crime.T-shirts referred to the “lightest work,” according to court documents. That would be the fake protest. Flannel shirts, a little heavier, meant stealing the documents. And a fleece jacket represented the “heaviest work” – murder.]
Merchant told the informant he would leave the United States and the assassination would occur afterward in late August or early September.
Prosecutors say Merchant on June 21 paid undercover law enforcement officers $5,000 in advance of the planned assassination and said the plot “absolutely” was moving forward and would happen.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the alleged plot is typical of the Iranian regime.
“This dangerous murder-for-hire plot was allegedly orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian regime’s playbook,” Wray said. “A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any U.S. citizen, is a serious threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.”
Secret Service officials in July warned Trump’s campaign of an “evolving threat” after the Biden administration obtained intelligence regarding an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the presidential candidate in retaliation for ordering the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
Trump was president and ordered a successful airstrike that targeted Soleimani and killed him in Baghdad in January 2020. Soleimani was Iran’s top-ranking general when he died. [Soleimani was one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists. He was responsible for 600 American deaths, and was “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iran and throughout the region.” See “Resources” below for details.]
Published at United Press International (UPI .com) on September 11, 2024. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.
Questions
1. The first paragraph of a news article should answer the questions who, what, where and when. (In this article, 1st and 2nd paragraphs). List the who, what, where and when of this news item. (NOTE: The remainder of a news article provides details on the why and/or how.)
2. What sentence might Merchant receive, if convicted?
3. List the timeline of what we know about Merchant’s plot.
4. How did the FBI catch Merchant?
5. What did Merchant’s plot entail?
6. Consider the statements made by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in paragraphs 4-5, as well as the following:
- As president, Trump had imposed sanctions on Iran. When Biden came into office he removed the sanctions and freed up hundreds of billions of dollars for Iran, which that government then used for terrorist activities.
- Iran is a member of the United Nations. The purpose of the U.N. (from its website) is “to bring all nations of the world together to work for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people.”
- The Iranian government officially targets Americans, and sponsors numerous terrorist groups including Hamas who on Oct. 7, 2023 murdered over 1,200 Israeli (and others including American) young people and families, and is still holding over 100 people hostage…, Hezbollah, the group attacking Israel from Lebanon and the Yemeni Houthis (who have greatly disrupted worldwide commerce by attacking even commercial ships in the Red Sea)
What do you think:
a) Is the UN irrelevant?
b) Should the U.S. adopt a new foreign policy to deal with Iran?
Explain your answers. (If you don’t know, ask a parent what he/she thinks :)
Resources
Read the DOJ (Department of Justice) Press Release on the charges against Merchant.
Read the DOJ charges in the complaint against Asif Merchant here.
Iranian General Soleimani was responsible for hundreds of American deaths:
- Listen to/read an interview explaining why the U.S. took out Iranian General Soleimani: Iran’s Top General Is Dead. What You Need to Know.
- Watch President Trump explain the killing of Soleimani under “Resources” in the article Iraq: The events that led to US killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
- See Iranian journalist: Many Iranians think Soleimani was a war criminal. (Jan. 2020)
Watch an ABC13 Houston news report:
Daily “Answers” emails are provided for Daily News Articles, Tuesday’s World Events and Friday’s News Quiz.
