New Delhi: A 46-year-old Pakistani national, Asif Raza Merchant, with alleged ties to Iran, has been arrested and charged in the US for an assassination attempt on former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
FBI director Christopher Wray called the scheme a “dangerous murder-for-hire plot… straight out of the Iranian playbook”.
A complaint was unsealed in Brooklyn, charging Merchant for attempting to assassinate Trump. Incidentally, the would-be assassins he hired turned out to be FBI undercover agents.
While the document did not mention Trump, US media reports said that he was one of the targets.
Merchant said that he wanted to target individuals in the US who are “hurting Pakistan and the world, [the] Muslim world”, according to court documents, adding that “these are not just normal people”, CNN reported.
It added that, as part of the plot, prosecutors say Merchant was seeking men to commit the actual assassinations, a woman to do “reconnaissance”, and around 25 people “who could perform a protest as a distraction after the murder occurred”.
According to allegations contained in the complaint and related publicly filed court documents, Merchant orchestrated a plot to assassinate a politician or US government official on US soil.
In approximately April 2024, after spending time in Iran, Merchant arrived in the US from Pakistan and contacted a person he believed could assist him with the scheme. That person reported Merchant’s conduct to law enforcement and became a confidential source (the CS), a statement issued by the US Justice department said.
In early June, Merchant met the CS 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”, i.e. is in the US. He instructed the CS to arrange meetings with individuals whom Merchant could hire to carry out these actions, the statement said.
At that meeting, Merchant began planning potential assassination scenarios and quizzed the CS on how he would kill a target in the various scenarios. Specifically, Merchant asked the CS to explain how a target would die in different scenarios. Merchant told the CS that there would be “security all around” the person.
He then began arranging means to obtain $5,000 in cash to pay the UCs as an advance payment for the assassination, which he eventually received with assistance from an individual overseas.
On 21 June, Merchant met with the UCs in New York and paid them the $5,000 advance. He subsequently made flight arrangements and planned to leave the US Friday, 12 July, 2024. On 12 July, law enforcement agents placed Merchant under arrest before he could leave the country. Merchant has stated that he has a wife and children in Iran and a wife and children in Pakistan, the Justice Department said.
Also read: Indian TV news declares Trump assassination attempt is a global plot. ‘Endangers Modi’