Identity Of Hitman Rivera Hired By Iran To Kill Trump Revealed

The alleged hitman behind a foiled Iranian plot to assassinate then-President-Elect Donald Trump and a prominent American journalist has been identified for the first time.

Last week, U.S. authorities revealed that they had thwarted an Iranian-backed operation to hire a gunman to kill Trump, marking what could have been the third assassination attempt on his life in just 100 days.

According to reports from CNN, the man charged in the plot is Carlisle “Pop” Rivera, 49, from Brooklyn, New York. He was reportedly recruited by Farjad Shakeri, who is alleged to have served as an intermediary for the Iranian group responsible for planning the assassination. The plot involved Rivera surveilling and eventually killing Trump, with Shakeri tasked with creating an assassination plan to be carried out before the 2024 election.

The criminal complaint also reveals that Rivera was involved in another plot to murder Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and outspoken critic of the Iranian regime. Alinejad works for Voice of America and has been a target of Iranian officials due to her advocacy. Rivera has been charged with conspiracy to murder both Trump and Alinejad.

Photos from Rivera’s social media accounts paint a picture of his life in Brooklyn, where he worked as a welder and posed for casual pictures in a bandana and sunglasses. In some photos, Rivera is seen standing outside his building in a New York Knicks hat. Prosecutors claim that Rivera, a father of two, had known Shakeri from prison and had been enlisted in the plot to murder Alinejad. He allegedly waited for a payment of $100,000 to carry out Alinejad’s killing, only to be directed to target Trump instead.

Shakeri, reportedly hiding in Tehran, is believed to have orchestrated both assassination plots. Rivera, prosecutors say, was also joined by his associate Jonathon Loadholt, a Staten Island resident, to assist in carrying out the killings. 

Though Trump’s representatives have yet to comment on the plot, Alinejad expressed shock upon learning of the assassination attempts on her life. “I know the nature of the Islamic Republic, to kill anyone who dares to challenge them,” she said. “Whatever I do makes them hurt really bad and makes them want to kill me.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the charges against Shakeri, emphasizing the grave threat posed by Iran. “There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the US as does Iran,” Garland stated.

Cc: CNN