Trump Assassination Suspect Complains About No Salt And Pepper With Meals, Cold Conditions, At Brooklyn Jail

Asif Merchant, a suspected Iranian agent accused of plotting to assassinate Donald Trump and other U.S. officials, is complaining about conditions in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, according to the New York Post.

Held in solitary since his July arrest, Merchant has criticized the lack of salt and pepper for his vegetarian meals. The strict facility also houses figures like Sean “Diddy” Combs and alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee, Asif Merchant’s lawyer criticized “arbitrary” restrictions at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, claiming they are intended to make his client’s life “more miserable.”

The Post writes that Merchant, held in the SAMS unit, is reportedly denied warm clothing for his cold cell and access to basic seasonings or commissary items like spicy chips to flavor his vegetarian meals. His lawyer argued these restrictions lack any valid security justification.

“Merchant’s cell (and the attorney conference room on Unit 84) is very cold and he often comes to attorney-client meetings shivering from cold,” his lawyer wrote.

“On the one occasion when Mr. Merchant was brought to the courthouse to meet with me and review discovery, he was so cold that he wore my winter coat throughout the meeting so he could warm up.”

Merchant’s lawyer urged a judge to order better conditions at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, arguing that SAMS restrictions shouldn’t mean enduring bland food in a cold cell without proper clothing.

The attorney called the conditions “inhumane” and said they interfere with Merchant’s right to counsel and defense preparation. 

Merchant, accused of plotting political assassinations in retaliation for the 2020 killing of Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani, allegedly paid $5,000 to men he thought were hitmen.

He’s being held alongside high-profile inmates like accused sex-trafficker Combs and alleged assassin Mangione, the report says.