WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Shockwaves were sent around the country Friday when the Justice Department revealed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot that intended to kill President-elect Donald Trump.
The plotters allegedly also planned attacks against other individuals, including a plan to kill Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad at a scheduled appearance on the campus of Fairfield University in Connecticut. Federal investigators said the suspects went to the campus to do reconnaissance and took photos of the venue.
The suspects hoped to assassinate Alinejad while she spoke on the campus on Feb. 15. In a video posted to X Friday, Alinejad said the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned her that day not to attend, and the university abruptly canceled the event.
Alinejad has dealt with multiple foiled attempts on her life. Alinejad lives in Brooklyn and has long been critical of Iran’s repressive stance against women.
In the video post, Alinejad said she was shocked to hear from the FBI that two men were arrested this week in the plot to kill her at Fairfield University. She said she learned that the person assigned to assassinate Trump was also assigned to kill her and that the would-be attackers surveilled her Brooklyn home.
Alinejad is calling on the U.S. government and Trump to be “tough on terror,” noting that the Islamic Republic understands only one language – the language of pressure.
“I came to America to practice my First Amendment right to freedom of speech – I don’t want to die,” Alinejad said in the video. “I want to fight against tyranny, and I deserve to be safe. Thank you to law enforcement for protecting me, but I urge the US government to protect the national security of America.”
Alinejad also spoke with the Associated Press Friday from Berlin, where she is attending a ceremony marking the anniversary of the destruction of the Berlin Wall. She pointed out that this wouldn’t be the first effort to take her life.
“This is the third attempt against me,” Alinejad said.
It has been reported that Iranian intelligence sought to kidnap her in 2021 and take her back to the country, and in July 2022, a man was arrested for staking out her home for two weeks while possessing a loaded AK-47.
“It is the Islamic Republic’s nature to get rid of their opponents, to kill anyone who dares to challenge them or criticizes their ideology,” Alinejad said on the video posted to X. “So, I have been given a third life… So far, I am very pleased and thankful to the law enforcement of the United States of America, that they have charged 15 people hired by the Islamic Republic to kill me, and six of them are behind bars in America. That’s why I love my life, I love America, and I love Iranian women who are facing the same killers, the same murders, but never give up.”
Alinejad went on to say, “Whatever I do hurts them [so] bad that they want to kill me. That makes me more determined to give voice to Iranian women and Iranian men, fighting shoulder to shoulder to bring the wall of dictatorship down. We will win this battle.”
According to investigators, Farhad Shakeri informed them of the plan to kill Trump. Shakeri is an accused Iranian government asset who spent time in American prisons for robbery. Authorities say he maintains a network of criminal associates enlisted by the Tehran for surveillance and murder-for-hire plots.
According to DOJ, Shakeri told the FBI that a contact in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard told him this past September to set aside other work and create a plan within a week to kill Trump, as was revealed by a criminal complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court.
Shakeri is currently at large in Iran. Two other men were arrested on charges that Shakeri recruited them to follow and kill Alinejad, identified as Jonathan Loadholt and Carlisle Rivera.
The criminal complaint includes photos taken on the Fairfield campus, allegedly by Loadholt and Rivera.
Fairfield University Vice President of Marketing & Communications Jennifer Anderson provided a statement to FOX61 News which said:
"Fairfield University respects the varying views and opinions of all invited campus guests and speakers.
As announced at the time of the event, the University rescheduled the Open Visions Forum due to unforeseen circumstances.
With regard to the criminal complaint filed in the New York federal court, the University does not comment on federal investigations."
In a statement Friday, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said that few actors in the world pose as great a threat to US national security as Iran.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the case shows Iran’s “continued brazen attempts to target citizens… [and] other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime.”
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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