A New York man pardoned by President Donald Trump earlier this year for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack was arrested over the weekend for threatening to kill Minority House Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
What is Christopher Moynihan being charged with?
Christopher Moynihan, 34, of Clinton, New York, was charged with one felony count of making a terrorist threat, according to a news release from the New York State Police.
Court documents obtained by CBS News show that the FBI received an anonymous tip from a person “concerned over recent suspected narcotic abuse and an increase in the respondent’s homicidal ideations.” Moynihan had plans to “eliminate” the House Democrat at a New York City event on Monday.
“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 event at the Economic Club of New York, a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization of prominent leaders from the public and private sectors who gather to discuss important issues ranging from public policy to economic regulation and tech disruption, according to its website.
‘Hold responsible parties accountable’
State Police said that on Saturday, the FBI advised them about the threats, and “following a thorough investigation, Moynihan was arrested and arraigned before the Town of Clinton Court,” police said.
Moynihan is being held at the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center in lieu of $10,000 cash bail, a $30,000 bond, or a partially secured $80,000 bond, according to the news release. He has another court hearing on Thursday.
NBC News reported that Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi said his office “was not contacted during the investigative stage of this matter.” Still, it was 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.”
Jeffries spoke out, thanking law enforcement for handling the matter
In a statement on Tuesday, Jeffries thanked law enforcement and federal agents for apprehending “a dangerous individual who made a credible death threat against me with every intention to carry it out,” he said, according to the BBC.
He also called out Trump for “pardoning” Moynihan and hundreds of others involved in the Capitol attack.
“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,” Jeffries added.
Moynihan was sentenced to less than two years in prison in 2023 for breaching the Capitol. At the time, prosecutors said he was one of the first rioters to break through the police barricades, entering the Senate chambers and rummaging through notebooks on one senator’s desk while taking photos of other information to use against the lawmakers, per CNN.