3 days Ago By [email protected] (Liam Doyle)
A hitman who was enlisted in an Iranian gun-for-hire plot to kill Donald Trump and an American journalist has been pictured for the first time. US authorities announced last week that they foiled an Iranian plot to use a hired gun to kill the now President-Elect in what could have been the third attempt on his life in the last 100 days. Newly unsealed criminal charges allege that the hitman, now identified as Carlisle "Pop" Rivera, 49, of Brooklyn, New York, was ordered to surveil and later kill Mr Trump.
Rivera was allegedly brought on board by Farjad Shakeri, who was said to have been working as an intermediary for the group, which is recognised as a terrorist organisation in the US. The complaint stated that Shakeri was tasked with creating an assassination plan to be implemented before the election. Prosecutors allege that he became involved with the plot to murder the then ex-President when he was already enlisted to carry out the killing of Masih Alinejad, a Voice of America journalist who is critical of Iran.
Rivera has been charged by law enforcement with conspiracy to murder Trump and Ms Alinejad. Pictures from his Facebook account show Rivera, reportedly a father of two, posing for the camera while at work as a welder. In other pictures, he can be seen wearing a bandana and pair of sunglasses while in his car, and standing outside his building dressed in a New York Knicks hat.
The complaint alleges that, if it was not possible to carry out the attack before the election, organisers would wait to see if Mr Trump lost the election, in which case, it is alleged, it would have been easier to complete the killing. It adds that Shakeri told the FBI that he did not propose a plan to murder the President-Elect within the seven days requested by an official. He is said to have known Shakeri from prison, who is now reportedly hiding in Tehran, and allegedly roped in a friend, Staten Island resident Jonathon Loadholt, to help carry out the hit.
Prosecutors have claimed that Rivera was already hired and trailing Ms Alinejad while waiting on a $100,000 (£80,000) to carry out her murder when his handlers told him to Target Mr Trump. While Mr Trump's representatives are yet to comment on the plot, Ms Alinejad has said she was "shocked" to find out about the orders placed on her. She said: "I know the nature of the Islamic Republic, to kill anyone who dare to challenge them, who criticised the Islamic ideology.
"Whatever I do makes them hurts them really bad and makes them want to kill me." Attorney General Merrick Garland unveiled the charges against Shakeri on Friday, saying: "There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the US as does Iran. "The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump.
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