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A federal judge sentenced a would-be assassin to the maximum 15 years in prison for plotting to kill an Iranian American journalist in New York on behalf of Iran’s government.
U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman said the defendant, Carlisle Rivera, caused “great harm” to American journalist and human rights activist Masih Alinejad and her husband, calling the messages Rivera exchanged while planning the 2024 Brooklyn attack “chilling.”
Alinejad told the court the repeated assassination attempts against her were not just personal threats, but attacks on Americans and U.S. sovereignty.
“I’m just a woman,” she said. “My weapon is my voice. My weapon is my social media.”
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Masih Alinejad greets friends and supporters outside the federal courthouse after testifying at the separate trial of two men accused of allegedly plotting to kill her in New York, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
She urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence to deter future plots “targeting U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.”
Before sentencing, Rivera, 51, apologized, telling the judge, “I’m deeply sorry for my actions.”
Iranian civil rights activist Masih Alinejad attends the nightcap session titled “Rebels With a Cause: Voices of Civil Resistance” at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 17, 2024. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
In a brief courtroom moment, Rivera’s fiancée approached Alinejad during a recess, sobbing and apologizing. Alinejad later said she told the woman she was fighting not only for herself, but “for all Americans.”
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Outside the Manhattan courthouse, Alinejad warned that the violence used to silence dissidents in Iran must not be allowed to spread to the United States. Holding a tablet showing images of Iranians killed during protests, she said Americans should not ignore the regime’s reach.
She also called on President Donald Trump to take stronger action against Iran’s leadership, comparing the regime to Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, who was captured in a U.S. military operation earlier this year and brought to New York on drug trafficking charges.
Masih Alinejad, a prominent Iranian American human rights activist, attends an interview with The Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
“Removing terrorists is not tragedy. It’s a sign of justice,” Alinejad said, adding she does not support bombing Iran but wants its leaders removed.
She noted that U.S. authorities have said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was behind multiple plots to kill her, as well as a separate plot targeting Trump. Tehran has denied the allegations.
Alinejad fled Iran in 2009 after the country’s disputed presidential election and became a U.S. citizen in 2019. She rose to prominence through campaigns encouraging Iranian women to defy the regime’s mandatory headscarf law and has since become a global advocate for women’s rights.
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Last year, two men were convicted and sentenced to 25 years for plotting to kidnap and kill her in 2022. Prosecutors said Iran placed a $500,000 bounty on her head.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.