Latest news with #IranianAmerican
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hateful, antisemitic road rage tirade unfolds on Southern California street
An Iranian American who has an Israeli flag in his windshield to show support for his Jewish friends and family was the target of a hateful antisemitic verbal assault last week in Reseda, an incident that was captured on camera. The victim, who only wanted to be identified as a Los Angeles resident named Justin, was alone in his vehicle on May 22 when the unprovoked, hateful tirade unfolded. Justin told KTLA's Rachel Menitoff that the man rolled down his window and threatened to kill him. 'He said, 'I'm going to f****** kill you,'' Justin recalled. In dashcam footage of the incident, the unidentified man behind the wheel of a Kia, gets in front of Justin's Tesla and brakes hard, his recklessness, according to the victim, engaged the Tesla's emergency braking system, nearly leading to Justin being rear-ended by the motorist behind him. The man in the Kia then exits his vehicle, cellphone in hand, presumably to film the exchange himself, and proceeds to direct a profanity-laced series of threats, yelling that Justin was 'a f****** coward. I'll beat your ass in front of everybody, okay?' The man spits toward Justin's vehicle, accuses him of not being an American tells him, 'Go back to your country you Zionist piece of s***.' The scary public display of antisemitic road rage came one day after a young, soon to be engaged couple, both members of the Israeli Embassy, were gunned down outside the Jewish Museum in Washington D.C. on May 21. The gunman in that case has been apprehended and federal investigators are calling the incident a targeted act of terrorism. VIDEO: Girl, 17, injured in brutal body slam by police in Southern California As for Justin, who believes instances of antisemitic attacks are increasing, he said he feels it's important to show solidarity and engage in dialogue. 'I would love to offer this person who accosted me, or someone like him, if you want to debate the merits of the war, we can look at that and analyze things, and we can be as objective as possible and acknowledge our biases,' he explained. '[We can] try to see if we can reason that way in public and then we won't be so confused about who our neighbors are and prejudge people and feel so righteous to be openly bigoted against somebody who could be perceived to be Jewish.' The incident, according to Justin who filed a police report, is being investigated as a hate crime, though so far, the man has not been located or arrested. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican Congressman Has Full-Blown Meltdown Over Halal Restaurant
Republican Representative Mike Collins is freaking out over a halal restaurant coming to the cafeteria in the House's Rayburn building. The skittish conservative complained on X Friday morning about Cha Street Food, a Pakistani restaurant, replacing Steak n Shake this summer, likening it to a religious war from thousands of years ago. If Collins knew anything about cuisines, or even cultures, outside of America, he'd know that Pakistan is thousands of miles away from Jerusalem. His own X post includes a screenshot of an email pointing out that Cha Street Food is actually based out of northern Virginia. Not only that, his beloved Steak n Shake is owned by an Iranian American, Sardar Biglari. If Collins thinks a new halal restaurant in a House cafeteria is like 'the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem,' perhaps he should get to know his colleagues. There are currently four Muslims serving in the House: Representatives Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Andre Collins of Indiana, and newly elected Lateefa Simon of California. There's even a congresswoman in his own Republican Party of partial Pakistani descent, Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma. But Collins is not known for his nuance or tolerance, cheering on racist protesters in Mississippi last year and blaming diversity, equity, and inclusion procedures for train derailments. Maybe the Georgia congressman ought to try out Cha Street Food and its menu of Pakistani street food, which includes burgers and fries. He might actually have his horizons broadened.
The Guardian
30-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Iran dissident still reeling from aftermath of foiled murder plot: ‘I've been living in a nightmare'
Masih Alinejad has long held fast fighting for women's rights in Iran despite ongoing threats from the regime. Alinejad, an Iranian American dissident, has for years been targeted by Tehran for her unrelenting criticism of Iran's government as a journalist, author and activist publicizing human rights abuses on social media – and calling for change. Iran's desire to silence Alinejad recently came to the forefront in Manhattan federal court: two Russian mobsters, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were on 20 March found guilty in an international murder-for-hire plot against her. US prosecutors said in court that Iranian officials contracted these men to kill Alinejad at her Brooklyn home for $500,000 after several other plots failed. Amirov and Omarov are jailed, as is the hitman they hired, and all three face years in prison. But Alinejad knows that a sense of home – which she has so craved after being banned from her birth country – remains out of reach. Alinejad has only been back once to her Brooklyn house since the foiled plot in late July 2022. 'To be honest, behind the scenes, I cried a lot,' she told the Guardian in an interview. 'This is my life. This is not just a news story. I want everyone to know that I've been living in a nightmare.' For three years, Alinejad said, there were times 'when I used to wake up in the middle of night without recognizing where I was, because I moved more than 20 times between safe houses'. 'This is not normal, to watch over my shoulder when I walk in the street,' she said. 'I don't have a place to call a home, to [put up] pictures of my loved ones, to grow my own plants.' 'I loved my garden in Brooklyn. The reason, actually, I planted it, I come from a tiny village. My parents were former farmers. They were street peddlers. They were growing vegetables in the garden, basil, tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, you know, and herbs, selling these vegetables to the people in the city of Babol. 'I was forced to leave my family members, so I actually tried to create a small village in Brooklyn [reminding] me of my family members, growing all those same vegetables that I used to grow up with them in the village,' Alinejad said. 'I planted a cherry blossom tree and named it after my mother. I planted a peach tree, which was so tall in Brooklyn, and I named it after my father. I planted a beautiful tea tree and named it after my brother.' 'I actually tried to have a normal life in exile. This was my resistance against exile,' she said. 'First, I was forced to leave my family members in Iran and now I was forced to leave my cherry blossom mother in Brooklyn, my plants, my beautiful garden, my small village.' 'That's not a normal life, and I still don't feel safe, even in America, miles away from my birth country, from Revolutionary Guard members.' The word 'safe', Alinejad said, is a luxury unavailable to those who 'dare to challenge' Tehran. She was especially distraught several years prior to the Brooklyn plot. Alinejad's brother called in a panic with word that Tehran wanted to kidnap her in Turkey – by using relatives to lure her there for a family visit. He was imprisoned for two years after warning her. Asked whether she sees a return to normalcy in the future, Alinejad said: 'Having a normal life is the dream of millions of people. To be honest, I don't want to just say that I don't have a normal life.' 'Do you think that a woman who is getting beaten up in the street for the crime of showing her hair has a normal life in Iran? If a girl, from the age of seven, being forced to wear a hijab – if not, she won't be able to get an education – has a normal life in Iran? No.' 'I don't think that as far as the Islamic Republic is in power, none of us have normal lives,' Alinejad said. 'So I see having a normal life the day when we have secure democracy in Iran. Alinejad thinks that policymakers should see Iran's brazen actions in other countries as a clear warning – and called for them to unify against the threat. But on the left, some are reluctant to speak up lest they seem critical of Iran's culture or religion, Alinejad said. On the right, some supporting an 'America first' approach to policy don't realize terrorists prioritize the US. 'For you, America is first – but you should know that for terrorists, for the Islamic Republic, America is first too,' Alinejad said. 'The first thing that they educate the youth, from the age of seven, is to say 'death to America', to destroy America, to hate America, to hate American values. They want to destroy you, whether you're rightwing or leftwing, Republican or Democrat.' 'I want Americans, at the end, to know what happened to me can happen to anyone in America who cares about freedom, who cares about democracy,' Alinejad said. 'If terrorists could map out different tactics, three times, to kidnap me or kill me, definitely these terrorists will do anything that they can to destroy America, because this is their ideology.' Alinejad believes that policymakers could learn about unity from everyday Americans – including her neighbors in Brooklyn. 'There are people having [signs] supporting President Trump in their garden, and there is another sign of Kamala-Biden, Bernie Sanders, there's a flag supporting the LGTBQ community,' she said. After news broke of the assassination plot, 'I saw that all my neighbors are knocking on the door and offering me food, red wine.' 'One of them even said that if you want to hide somewhere, my house is safe for you.' 'I was like, this is the America that I love,' Alinejad said. Americans might be divided but when it comes to helping their fellow citizens in a time of need, 'we're all united'. 'That could be a lesson for the policymakers,' Alinejad said. 'I believe that there is something wrong in policymaking, not just in America, everywhere, that they forget what is basic for all the citizens.'
CNN
21-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Jury convicts 2 men of plotting to assassinate an Iranian American journalist in New York
New York (AP) — A jury has convicted two men of plotting to assassinate Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said was financed by Iran's government. The verdict was returned at a federal court in New York on Thursday, ending a two-week trial that featured dramatic testimony from a hired gunman and Alinejad, an author, activist and contributor to Voice of America. Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were crime bosses in the Russian mob. Their lawyers argued that they were innocent and trial evidence was flawed. Alinejad, 48, was targeted by Iran for her online campaigns encouraging women there to record videos of themselves exposing their hair in violation of edicts requiring they cover it in public. Iran offered $500,000 for a July 2022 killing of Alinejad after efforts to harass, smear and intimidate Alinejad failed, prosecutors said. American officials have accused Iran of backing several assassination plots in the United States, including against President Donald Trump when he was campaigning last year. Tehran has denied being behind any plots to kill people in the U.S. Alinejad, who was not in court, told The Associated Press she cried when she learned about the verdict. 'I am relieved that after nearly three years, the men who plotted to kill me have been found guilty. But make no mistake, the real masterminds of this crime are still in power in Iran,' she said. Alinejad testified last week that she came to the United States in 2009 after she was banned from covering Iran's disputed presidential election and the newspaper where she worked was shut down. Establishing herself in New York City, she built an online audience of millions and launched her 'My Stealthy Freedom' campaign, telling Iranian women to send photos and videos of them exposing their hair when the morality police were not around. Soon, she said, she had inspired women to take to the streets in Iran on Wednesdays to peacefully protest, leading the government to arrest hundreds of them. The crackdown only caused her following to grow, however. At the trial, prosecutors said that by 2022, the Iranian government had enlisted organized crime figures, including Amirov and Omarov, to kill Alinejad. Khalid Mehdiyev, a former member of the Russian mob who lived in Yonkers and worked at a pizzeria, testified that he was hired as the hitman. Like Amirov and Omarov, he is from Azerbaijan, which shares a border and cultural ties with Iran. Mehdiyev, who cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, said he bought an AK-47 to kill Alinejad but the plan was foiled when his car was stopped by police and the gun was found in the back seat in July 2022. A doorbell camera at Alinejad's home recorded Mehdiyev standing on her front porch. Prosecutors have kept the investigation open. In October they announced charges against a senior Iranian military official and three others, none of whom are in custody. In a separate case, U.S. prosecutors in 2022 charged a man in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard with plotting to kill former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton. Iranian officials vowed to exact revenge against Trump and others in his former administration over the 2020 drone strike that killed the prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. Alinejad said she has had to move nearly two dozen times since the assassination plot was discovered, at times feeling guilty that so many of her followers in Iran lack a safety net. That, she said, only 'makes me more determined to give voice to voiceless people.'
CNN
21-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Jury convicts 2 men of plotting to assassinate an Iranian American journalist in New York
New York (AP) — A jury has convicted two men of plotting to assassinate Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said was financed by Iran's government. The verdict was returned at a federal court in New York on Thursday, ending a two-week trial that featured dramatic testimony from a hired gunman and Alinejad, an author, activist and contributor to Voice of America. Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were crime bosses in the Russian mob. Their lawyers argued that they were innocent and trial evidence was flawed. Alinejad, 48, was targeted by Iran for her online campaigns encouraging women there to record videos of themselves exposing their hair in violation of edicts requiring they cover it in public. Iran offered $500,000 for a July 2022 killing of Alinejad after efforts to harass, smear and intimidate Alinejad failed, prosecutors said. American officials have accused Iran of backing several assassination plots in the United States, including against President Donald Trump when he was campaigning last year. Tehran has denied being behind any plots to kill people in the U.S. Alinejad, who was not in court, told The Associated Press she cried when she learned about the verdict. 'I am relieved that after nearly three years, the men who plotted to kill me have been found guilty. But make no mistake, the real masterminds of this crime are still in power in Iran,' she said. Alinejad testified last week that she came to the United States in 2009 after she was banned from covering Iran's disputed presidential election and the newspaper where she worked was shut down. Establishing herself in New York City, she built an online audience of millions and launched her 'My Stealthy Freedom' campaign, telling Iranian women to send photos and videos of them exposing their hair when the morality police were not around. Soon, she said, she had inspired women to take to the streets in Iran on Wednesdays to peacefully protest, leading the government to arrest hundreds of them. The crackdown only caused her following to grow, however. At the trial, prosecutors said that by 2022, the Iranian government had enlisted organized crime figures, including Amirov and Omarov, to kill Alinejad. Khalid Mehdiyev, a former member of the Russian mob who lived in Yonkers and worked at a pizzeria, testified that he was hired as the hitman. Like Amirov and Omarov, he is from Azerbaijan, which shares a border and cultural ties with Iran. Mehdiyev, who cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, said he bought an AK-47 to kill Alinejad but the plan was foiled when his car was stopped by police and the gun was found in the back seat in July 2022. A doorbell camera at Alinejad's home recorded Mehdiyev standing on her front porch. Prosecutors have kept the investigation open. In October they announced charges against a senior Iranian military official and three others, none of whom are in custody. In a separate case, U.S. prosecutors in 2022 charged a man in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard with plotting to kill former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton. Iranian officials vowed to exact revenge against Trump and others in his former administration over the 2020 drone strike that killed the prominent Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. Alinejad said she has had to move nearly two dozen times since the assassination plot was discovered, at times feeling guilty that so many of her followers in Iran lack a safety net. That, she said, only 'makes me more determined to give voice to voiceless people.'
