WASHINGTON — A Jan. 6 defendant who was among the hundreds President Donald Trump pardoned in January was arrested for making a “credible death threat” against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the congressman said in a statement.
Christopher Moynihan, a 34-year-old from Clinton, New York, was charged with a felony count of making a terroristic threat, according to the New York State Police.
Charging documents show that the FBI received an anonymous tip from an individual “concerned over recent suspected narcotic abuse and an increase in the respondent’s homicidal ideations.” Moynihan allegedly said that he planned to kill Jeffries in New York City for “the future.”
“Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” Moynihan allegedly wrote. “Even if I am hated he must be eliminated.” Jeffries spoke at a luncheon at the Economic Club of New York on Monday.
State police said that on Saturday, the FBI advised them of the threats and after a “thorough investigation, Moynihan was arrested and arraigned before the Town of Clinton Court,” police said.
Moynihan is currently being held at the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, police said. A judge set his cash bail at $10,000, his bond at $30,000 or a partially secured bond of $80,000. He has another court appearance Thursday.
CBS News was the first to report on the arrest.
A spokesperson for the New York State Police referred NBC News to the Town of Clinton Court, where a clerk did not immediately respond to a request for the criminal complaint. The FBI referred a question to the Justice Department, and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi said that his office “was not contacted during the investigative stage of this matter,” but that they were now reviewing the case for legal and factual sufficiency.
“Threats made against elected officials and members of the public will not be tolerated,” he said. “We will pursue every available investigative and prosecutorial tool to hold responsible parties accountable, protect potential victims, and deter future violence.”
In a background report for an extreme risk protection order, authorities noted that “Although the Criminal History Repository indicates the respondent is on US Probation, he was fully pardoned by President Trump 1/20/25 for his role in the Capitol Riots.”
Moynihan was sentenced to 21 months in prison in February 2023 for his actions at the Capitol riot.
Prosecutors said that Moynihan was among the first rioters to enter the Capitol grounds and watched rioters fight with police at the rotunda door. “And we’re f—ing in!” Moynihan yelled. “F—, yeah. Every single one of you is a patriot! Remember that. Restore this republic. Down with communism. Down with communism. Down with Biden. We will restore our republic.”
Prosecutors said Moynihan was among the rioters who entered the Senate gallery, rifling through a notebook on the desk of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
“There’s gotta be something in here we can f—- use against these scumbags,” Moynihan said, prosecutors said.
When another rioter said, “I think Cruz would want us to do this,” Moynihan responded, “Yeah. Absolutely,” video shows.
Moynihan, who previously faced two petty larceny cases and four drug possession cases, saw himself “as part of an existential battle against those who [disagree] with him,” federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. “His words and his conduct demonstrate that he believes his crimes were justified because they were performed in the name of his political goals,” they wrote.
After a Supreme Court ruling impacted one of the charges against him, a judge ordered Moynihan to be released after he had served a 12-month sentence on other counts. Moynihan’s appeal of his conviction and sentence were pending at the time of Trump’s pardon, according to court filings.
Moynihan “felt a unique allegiance to President Trump,” his defense team wrote, and was a “receptive audience” to Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election.
Trump pardoned around 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, including some who were convicted of violent crimes, on his first day in office. He has referred to the Jan. 6 rioters as “hostages” and “patriots.”
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