Pardoned Capitol rioter arrested for allegedly threatening to kill top Democrat 19 minutes ago Madeline Halpert A man pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role in the 2021 Capitol riot has been charged with threatening to kill the top Democrat in the US House of Representatives.
“I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” Moynihan allegedly wrote in text messages.
According to court filings, Moynihan also wrote: “Even if I am hated, [Jeffries] must be eliminated, I will kill him for the future.”
On Trump’s first day back in office, he pardoned Moynihan and more than 1,000 other riot defendants, calling them “hostages” whose lives had been “detroyed”.
Then, in September, a Utah man allegedly shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Apprehension of a pardoned Capitol rioter who allegedly threatened to kill a prominent Democrat.
19 minutes prior.
Halpert and Madeline.
A man who was charged with threatening to kill the top Democrat in the US House of Representatives was pardoned by President Donald Trump for his involvement in the Capitol riot in 2021.
According to New York State Police, 34-year-old Christopher Moynihan was taken into custody in Clinton, New York, for threatening to kill a member of Congress. His plea is not guilty.
During a speech to the Economic Club of New York this week, Moynihan allegedly intended to attack Senate Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to court documents obtained by CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
Moynihan allegedly texted, “I cannot allow this terrorist to live.”.
Additionally, Moynihan wrote: “Even if I am hated, [Jeffries] must be eliminated, I will kill him for the future,” according to court documents. “.
Jeffries, who is a strong candidate to become Speaker if Democrats win the House, expressed his gratitude to law enforcement and federal agents for capturing “a dangerous individual who made a credible death threat against me with every intention to carry it out” in a statement following the arrest.
“Unfortunately, our brave law enforcement officers are being forced to spend their time protecting our communities from these violent individuals who should never have been pardoned,” he added.
Moynihan was given a 21-month prison sentence in 2023 for breaking into the capitol on January 6, 2021, as a member of the mob that aimed to keep Trump in power by preventing Congress from certifying that Joe Biden had won the 2020 election.
He was among the first rioters to breach police barricades, according to the prosecution.
They claimed that after entering the Senate chamber, he looked through a notebook on a desk and used his phone to take pictures while stating, “There must be something in here that we can f—- use against these —-bags.”.
Trump referred to Moynihan and over 1,000 other riot defendants as “hostages” whose lives had been “detroyed” when he granted them pardons on his first day back in office. Since then, a number of additional rioters who were pardoned have also been taken into custody on various charges.
After negotiations to prevent a government shutdown failed last month, he accused Jeffries of favoring foreigners over Americans by posting a manipulated video of him wearing a sombrero.
In the United States, political violence has turned deadly this year. One Democratic lawmaker and her husband were killed and another was injured in June after a man allegedly targeted them in Minnesota. Then, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was allegedly shot and killed by a Utah man in September.
Moynihan is being held at a Poughkeepsie facility and is expected to appear in court on Thursday. According to the local prosecutor, he entered a not guilty plea after being read his charges.
