A New York man who took part in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol and was pardoned by President Donald Trump has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill a top Democratic member of Congress, police said.
Christopher Moynihan, 34, of Clinton, New York, was arrested last week on a felony charge of making a “terroristic threat,” according to state police.
Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democratic minority in the House of Representatives, said in a statement on Tuesday that he was the target of the “credible death threat by a “dangerous individual.”
“The person arrested, along with thousands of violent felons who stormed the US Capitol during the January 6th attack, was pardoned by Donald Trump on the President’s very first day in office,” Jeffries said.
“Since the blanket pardon that occurred earlier this year, many of the criminals released have committed additional crimes throughout the country,” he said.
According to court documents obtained by CBS News, Moynihan sent text messages to an unidentified individual stating that he planned to “eliminate” Jeffries at a speaking event in New York on Monday.
Moynihan was arraigned in a state court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty, CBS said.
Moynihan was among the more than 1,500 participants in the attack on the US Capitol who received a pardon from Trump.
Moynihan was sentenced in February 2023 to 21 months in prison for taking part in the assault on Congress by Trump supporters who were seeking to block certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.
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