On Thursday, July 28, a man was arrested outside the home of Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist who lives in New York. The man was said to be carrying an AK-47.
Fox News said that the police got the assault rifle back from Khalid Mehdiyev, who was 23 years old and had been stopped by the police for driving through a stop sign.
Authorities say that Khalid Mehdiyev may be working for the Islamic Republic of Iran, which sees Masih Alinejad as a dissident because she has accused the Iranian government of harassing her. Her journalism and protest campaigns got her into trouble.
Authorities in New York haven’t confirmed that Khalid Mehdiyev is connected to Masih Alinejad yet, but they think that the 23-year-old was watching the journalist’s home.
Why does Khalid Mehdiyev get blamed for wanting to hurt Masih Alinejad?
Authorities say that Khalid Mehdiyev was seen around Masih Alinejad’s Brooklyn home on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the New York Post. He is said to have kept an eye on them for a long time, even ordering food to his car. He was supposedly caught on Alinejad’s home’s security cameras walking around the front door and looking in the windows.
Mehdiyev was arrested in the end because he broke a small traffic rule by driving through a stop sign. Federal prosecutors said he had money, an AK-47, and 66 rounds of ammunition in his possession. The suspect said he was from Yonkers and looking for a new place to live near where Alinejad lives in Flatbush.
Mehdiyev has been charged with having a gun as of right now. The accusations that he spied on Alinejad’s home are still being looked into.
Masih Alinejad: Everything you need to know
Alinejad became well-known for criticizing a law in Iran that says all women must wear a hijab when they leave the house. She led many campaigns to help Iranian women, and activists from all over the country gave her a lot of support.
“Many people in Iran want the Islamic Republic to end. Voices of those who disagree should be heard.”
Alinejad left Iran in 2009 because she was afraid the government would target her, but the harassment claims kept coming. In September 2019, Amnesty International said that Iranian authorities had arrested three members of Alinejad’s family. It was said that this was a punishment for her activism.
In July 2021, the US Department of Justice accused the Iranian government of planning to kidnap a critic of the Iranian government. The department said that four Iranian intelligence officials had been arrested in the US, the UK, and Canada on suspicion of working together to do this. The BBC said that Alinejad said that the plan was all about her.