Pardoned Capitol rioter accused of threatening to kill Hakeem Jeffries at New York event this week

A pardoned Capitol rioter was arrested last weekend for allegedly threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Court documents obtained by CBS News indicate that Christopher Moynihan was arrested Sunday after he said in text messages that he planned to “eliminate” Jeffries when the top House Democrat spoke at an event in New York on Monday.

Jeffries spoke Monday at the Economic Club of New York.

According to a filing by prosecutors in the New York state criminal case, Moynihan wrote: “Hakeem Jeffries will be giving a speech in a few days in New York. I cannot allow this terrorist to live. »

Moynihan also allegedly said, “Even though I am hated, he must be eliminated, I will kill him in the future,” the filing states.

Moynihan faces a felony charge of making a terroristic threat, according to court documents shared by prosecutors.

Moynihan’s father declined to comment on the matter when reached by telephone by CBS News on Monday. He said Moynihan has not yet been appointed as a defense attorney.

Moynihan is scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday in Dutchess County, New York.

Moynihan was pardoned by President Trump nine months ago, along with more than 1,500 other Capitol riot defendants who were pardoned. granted clemency hours after Mr. Trump returned to the White House.

Moynihan was convicted in August 2022 of obstructing an official proceeding and pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges. He was sentenced in February 2023 to 21 months in prison.

Prosecutors described Moynihan as being one of the first rioters to break through police barricades and enter the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021.

Moynihan was also among a small group of riot defendants who were in the Senate during the siege. Prosecutors argued in Moynihan’s sentencing memorandum: “Inside, Moynihan rifled through a notebook on a senator’s desk, saying, ‘There must be something in here we can use against these bastards.’ » »

Prosecutors said Moynihan “occupied the Senate dais, joining other rioters in shouting and chanting,” and did not leave the room until police forced him to leave.

Moynihan’s arrest for allegedly threatening Jeffries was made by New York State Police, according to an agency statement confirmed by a state official. The investigation was opened by the FBI, according to state police.

A state police release said Moynihan was arraigned in local court in Clinton, a city in New York’s Hudson Valley region. He was 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.”

State Police declined a request to immediately release a copy of the agency’s incident report or a booking photo.

Moynihan is not the first pardoned Capitol rioter to be arrested on new, separate charges. But he is the first to be accused of making violent threats against a member of Congress.

Critics of the president’s blanket pardon for the Jan. 6 defendants have warned of the risk of repeat offenses by the rioters, many of whom have remained defiant and unapologetic about their role in the attack. The rioters were publicly defended and hailed as “hostages” by Mr. Trump.

In a speech in March 2025, Senator Dick Durbin, a member of the Democratic leadership of the Illinois Senate, listed the names of accused rioters who had been rearrested. Durbin cited the case of Matthew Huttle, who was accused of “brandishing a gun at police” in early 2025 and “admitted he was a defendant in the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol,” according to Durbin. Huttle was fatally shot by police during the traffic stop.

Zachary Alam, who was convicted of eight felonies for his role in the Capitol riot, was arrested weeks after his 2025 presidential pardon for allegedly breaking into a home near Richmond, Virginia.

Other January 6 defendants have since been arrested for other alleged criminal offenses that occurred before the siege or in the years between 2021 and the pardon.

The alleged threat against Jeffries is also part of a growing wave of threats against lawmakers. In a statement last month, Capitol Police said the number of threat investigations in 2025 had already eclipsed 14,000, more than the number of cases in all of 2024.

Capitol riot leaves more than 140 injured police officers and caused millions of dollars in damage to the Capitol complex. It halted the certification of the electoral vote for the 2020 election and triggered the evacuation of Congress, with leaders sent to a safe, secret location.

Some rioters chanted to hang then-Vice President Mike Pence and threatened to kill the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives. Nancy Pelosi and struck officers with dozens of makeshift weapons, including bats, sticks, poles, bear spray and beams. Some were accused of carrying guns, knives and homemade weapons.