The United States has charged a Pakistani man with plotting to assassinate several U.S. government officials and politicians, including former President Donald Trump.
The suspect, 46-year-old Asif Merchant, was arrested and charged with a murder-for-hire scheme, according to CBS News.
Merchant, who has alleged ties to Iran, is accused of planning attacks on both current and former government officials.
The information about Merchant’s plot led the U.S. Secret Service to increase security around Trump in recent weeks.
“Law enforcement foiled the charged plot before any attack could be carried out,” said a law enforcement official. “Our ongoing investigation has not found evidence that this defendant (Merchant) had any connection to the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.”
Merchant’s planning reportedly began in April when he traveled to the U.S. to recruit people for his assassination plot. He met with an FBI informant in New York, where he revealed his plans.
In June, Merchant allegedly made a “finger gun” gesture and asked the informant to arrange meetings with potential hitmen. Court documents show Merchant’s plot included stealing documents from a target’s home, staging a protest as a distraction, and killing a politician or government official.
“People who will be targeted are the ones who are hurting Pakistan and the Muslim world,” Merchant allegedly said. He drew out his plan on a napkin and talked about needing to deal with “security all around” the target.
Merchant met with undercover agents, whom he thought were hitmen, and paid them $5,000 as an advance for the plot. He used coded language to discuss the assassination plan, referring to it as “fleece jacket.”
On June 21, Merchant gave the hitmen $5,000 in cash and discussed the plot further. He was arrested on July 12 at his home just before a planned trip outside the U.S. During the search, police found a handwritten note with codewords related to the plot.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “For years, the Justice Department has been working to aggressively counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American government officials for the killing of General Soleimani.”
Garland emphasized that there is no evidence linking Merchant to the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. In that attack, Thomas Crooks fired eight rounds at a rally, injuring Trump and two others and killing one man, Corey Comperatore. Crooks was killed by a Secret Service sniper.
The Secret Service called the attack a failure, and the FBI continues to investigate Crooks’ motive.
