Man indicted, was arrested outside US home of Iranian activist with rifle
A man taken into custody in New York after being spotted lingering outside the home of a prominent Iranian activist and journalist while in possession of an AK-47-style rifle has been indicted on gun charges in a New York court, records show.
As Reuters reported, he was found by police with a loaded AK-47 rifle in the vehicle he was driving.
According to NBC New York, the man, identified as Khalid Mehdiyev, was charged with one count of possessing a firearm, the Chinese-made AK-47-style rifle with a destroyed serial number that police found in his possession.
Earlier this month New York police arrested the man outside of a Brooklyn home with the rifle.
As Reuters reported, 45-year-old Masih Alinejad, an outspoken women’s rights activist and well-known journalist has been a noted speaker at summits like the World Summit, where she spoke to an audience in New York in 2019.
A criminal complaint was previously filed in a Manhattan federal court. It said a man named Khalid Mehdiyev was seen acting suspiciously near Alinejad’s home over two days before his arrest.
The complaint said that Mehdiyev arrived in an SUV with Illinois plates, and it is believed that he ordered food that was delivered to his car. He then is accused of lingering outside of the home and trying to look into the residence’s windows, and it is alleged that he tried to open the door.
According to reporting by the New York Times, he was later stopped by New York police after failing to obey a stop sign and was arrested for driving without a license or driving with a suspended license. A suitcase was later found in the vehicle’s rear, which contained a loaded AK-47 rifle with a destroyed serial number.
“I came here in America to be safe,” Alinejad said. “First, they were trying to kidnap me. And now I see a man with a loaded gun trying to enter my house. I mean, it’s shocking.”
According to the New York Times, Alinejad has been the target of an international kidnapping plot announced last year by federal prosecutors.
Alinejad is known for her outspoken work criticizing the Iranian government and said in the Washington Post in 2020 that the Iranian government had launched a social media campaign calling for her abduction. Four Iranian officials were changed with the conspiracy to kidnap her and try to forcibly return her to Iran, according to a federal indictment.
