Capitol rioters arrested for alleged threats against Jeffries

The man pardoned by President Trump after storming the US Capitol in 2021 has been arrested on charges of threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

New York State Police He says Christopher Moynihan was arrested after the FBI informed them that he had made “threats to kill a member of Congress.” Court documents show his arrest came after he sent a text message saying he planned to kill Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives.

Court records show that on or about Oct. 17, Moynihan allegedly sent text messages in which he threatened Jeffries’ life, writing, “I will kill him in the future.”

“Hakeem Jeffries will be giving a speech in a few days in New York City,” one message read, according to the criminal complaint. “I cannot allow this terrorist to live.” “Even if you are hated, you should be eliminated,” another read.

Moynihan, 34, was arraigned in District Court in Clinton, New York, and remanded to the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center “in lieu of $10,000 cash bail, $30,000 bond, or $80,000 partially secured bond.” He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.

He faces a felony charge of making a terrorist threat.

In a statement Jeffries noted Tuesday that Moynihan was pardoned on Trump’s first day in office.

“Since the blanket amnesty issued earlier this year, many released criminals have committed additional crimes across the country,” he said. “Unfortunately, our brave men and women in law enforcement are forced to spend their time keeping our communities safe from these violent individuals who should never be pardoned.”

Moynihan He was sentenced in 2023 to 21 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release. He received a full pardon, along with more than 1,500 other defendants charged with crimes related to the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

That day, Moynihan could be heard on video taken inside the Senate chamber saying: “There’s got to be something we can use against these damn bastards.”

While many people had no record before committing the crimes on January 6,… NPR identified dozens of defendants with prior convictions For crimes including rape, sexual assault of a minor, domestic violence, manslaughter, production of child sexual abuse material, and drug trafficking. Among them was Matthew Huttle, who was shot and killed by law enforcement during a traffic stop in Indiana days after being pardoned.

Moynihan’s arrest comes amid increasing threats to lawmakers. The Capitol Police told NPR in a statement in September that its agents were on track to work through nearly 14,000 threat assessment cases by the end of the year, a significant spike from case workloads in previous years.

NPR’s Sam Greenglass contributed to this report.

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