Prominent Iranian-American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad criticized her former home country just days after a man armed with an AK-47 attack rifle was arrested near her home in Brooklyn. Alinejad, who fled Iran in 2009 after presidential elections and repression, believes the government is seeking to assassinate him.
“I’m not afraid [for] my life at all because I know what I’m doing,” he told CNN. “I only have one life, and I have committed my life to giving a voice to Iranians in Iran who bravely take to the streets, face guns and bullets to protest against the Iranian regime, but this is in the United States. “
During the interview, he said he believed the guy was connected to the Iranian government because he had no other enemies. Alinejad told the regime to “go to hell. “
According to a thief complaint filed Friday in federal court, law enforcement said they saw Khalid Mehdiyev, 23, outdoors in a Brooklyn home for two days. He acted suspiciously, according to the government: he was handed over and returned to his car. several times, he tried to look out the windows of the space, and at one point, he allegedly tried to open the door.
On the same day, police shot Mehdiyev a block from space for failing to stop at a prevention signal, according to the complaint. He was later arrested for driving without a license.
After taking him to a space in the nearby compound, police discovered an AK-47 loaded with an “erased” serial number on his car, as well as “a momentary magazine and a total of approximately 66 rounds of ammunition. “
Although he doesn’t mention Alinejad, he says the government informed him about the incident and Mehdiyev’s arrest last week, CBS New York reports.
“I was surprised that when I saw the image of the weapon, I thought, ‘Wait a minute, this weapon is being used right now in Ukraine by Russian soldiers. What did I do?'” Alinejad told CBS. New York.
Surveillance video of the house, which Alinejad shared on Twitter, captured a guy walking around with a mobile phone. Alinejad thinks the guy was there to kill her.
“I don’t know anything about the person, but I know the Islamic Republic. I know my first enemy is the Islamic Republic,” Alinejad said. “Imagine if the guy had opened fire. Who knows how many of my neighbors would have been killed?”
According to the complaint, Mehdiyev admitted to police that the gun in the attack was his and that he had traveled from Yonkers to Brooklyn to look for someone. Then he asked for a lawyer.
Mehdiyev faces federal charges, in addition to possession of a gun by a thief, CBS New York reports.
Last summer, Alinejad was also the target of an alleged kidnapping plot, in which an Iranian intelligence officer and 3 alleged members of an Iranian intelligence network were charged. The government has denied its role in the plot.
Alinejad has long been an outspoken human rights activist. He presented the campaigns “White Wednesday” and “My Stealth Freedom”, in which they film themselves without covering their heads or hijabs in public in Iran, moves that are punishable by arrests or fines.
In 2018, Alinejad explained to CBS News how women are treated in Iran and why she boycotted wearing the classic veil.
“What you want to perceive is that we’re not fighting a little piece of cloth,” Alinejad said. “We are challenging the founding bloc of the Islamic Republic of Iran. “
She told CBS New York that she hopes incidents like this will lead the White House to monitor the Iranian more closely.
“It’s vital that I see this guy at the bar, but it’s not just him,” Alinejad said. “These concepts deserve to be stopped by the U. S. government. USA My crime is just to give a voice to the voiceless inner Iran. “