(Daily Wire) Federal law enforcement officials announced on Tuesday that they have arrested a Pakistan national with ties to the Islamic Republic of Iran for allegedly leading a serious plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
Authorities arrested 46-year-old in New York on July 12, the day before 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Merchant orchestrated a plot to assassinate a politician or U.S. government officials on U.S. soil,” the DOJ said. “In approximately April 2024, after spending time in Iran, Merchant arrived in the United States from Pakistan and contacted a person he believed could assist him with the scheme.”
The person whom he contacted immediately contacted law enforcement and became a confidential source (the CS), assisting law enforcement in their investigation.
Merchant told the CS in June that his assignment was to recruit hitmen who could carry out three objectives, including stealing documents or USB drives from a target’s home, planning a protest, and killing a politician or government official, court documents said.
Merchant wanted the CS to plan the assassination and warned that the target would have security “all around,” the DOJ said. Merchant, who allegedly indicated that he was being directed by individuals in either Iran or Pakistan, said that the assassination would take place after he left the country and that they would use secret code words to communicate.
Undercover federal law enforcement agents posed as the hitmen who would carry out Merchant’s assignments and agreed to a $5,000 payment to carry out the crimes.
