Pakistani national charged with alleged plot to assassinate Donald Trump

An alleged Iranian-Pakistani national was detained last month on suspicion of planning to kill former President Donald Trump and many other public figures, according to a criminal complaint that was made public in a Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday.

Trump was one of the intended targets of the alleged scheme, according to various sources familiar with the matter, even though the criminal complaint does not specifically name him. The sources claimed that government leaders on both sides of the dispute were potential targets as well.

Asif Merchant traveled from Pakistan to the United States to hire hitmen to carry out the purported scheme, a detention report said, after he had spent time in Iran. According to the FBI, the individual he spoke with was a confidential informant.

“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.”

Asif was shot in the ear on July 12 and taken into custody the day before Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“Merchant planned the murder of U.S. government officials on American soil while working on behalf of others overseas,” stated Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Officials said that when Merchant came in April from Iran, he made contact with someone to get assistance with his plan. The Justice Department claims that the individual turned out to be a confidential source who gave the information to law enforcement. According to officials, Merchant allegedly met with the source again in early June, explaining the assassination plan and stating that it was “not a one-time opportunity.”

In particular, Merchant asked for about 25 men who could carry out the killing. “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,'” the complaint said.

“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. “This case underscores the dedication and formidable efforts of our agents, analysts and prosecutors in New York, Houston, and Dallas. Their success in neutralizing this threat not only prevented a tragic outcome but also reaffirms the FBI’s commitment to protecting our nation and its citizens from both domestic and international threats.”

“We were initially told that there was no Secret Service snipers coming but that was shifted either Thursday or Friday to indicate that there were,” Pat Young, head of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, told ABC News. “We had been told that this is the first time that a non-sitting president had been allocated Secret Service snipers. So that threw up some alarm bells for some of our guys that — why the sudden shift — from one stance to the other?”