One of the people President Donald Trump pardoned in connection with the events of Jan. 6, 2021, was arrested over the weekend for allegedly threatening to murder House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
Christopher Moynihan faces a felony charge after being accused of threatening to kill Jeffries during a scheduled event at the Economic Club of New York on Monday. The suspect sent text messages on Friday saying “I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” according to court documents.
Jeffries thanked law enforcement on Tuesday for their actions to “apprehend a dangerous individual who made a credible death threat against me with every intention to carry it out.”
“It is the honor of my life to serve in Congress during these challenging times. Threats of violence will not stop us from showing up, standing up and speaking up for the American people,” he continued in a statement.
Moynihan was arrested by New York State Police following an initial FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation. He was arraigned on Tuesday and entered a plea of not guilty, according to documents seen by CBS News.
Text messages he is accused of sending read: “Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC. Even if I am hated he must be eliminated. … I will kill him for the future.”
Court documents say that the text messages placed “the recipient in reasonable fear of the imminent murder and assassination of Hakeem Jeffries by the defendant.”
Moynihan is one of roughly 1,500 people arrested in 2021 after they were accused of entering the Capitol premises illegally and staging a riot.
After winning reelection to the White House, Trump issued mass pardons or acts of clemency to most of those defendants, including Moynihan, expressing concern about the FBI’s involvement in the incident, while arguing that many were charged unfairly and had endured excruciating conditions in prison.
Jeffries targeted Trump for his actions this week, saying, “Many of the criminals released have committed additional crimes throughout the country.”
“Unfortunately, our brave men and women in law enforcement are being forced to spend their time keeping our communities safe from these violent individuals who should never have been pardoned,” the House Democrat said.
His words come as Moynihan is not the first pardoned Jan. 6 defendant to be arrested on new, separate charges.
At least 10 other Jan. 6 defendants have been re-arrested, charged, or sentenced for other crimes since being released, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.
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Daniel Bell, a Florida man arrested on pending federal gun charges, is one of them.
Bell was detained in late January on an arrest warrant for illegal firearm possession — a charge that predates his involvement in Jan. 6, but emerged due to his activity at the Capitol.
