Pardoned Capitol riot defendant threatens to kill Hakeem Jeffries, NY police say
A man pardoned by President Donald Trump over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot threatened to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in New York City, according to court documents.
Christopher Moynihan, 34, of Clinton, New York, was arrested by police and the FBI on a charge of making a terroristic threat against the Congress member, New York State Police said in an Oct. 19 news release.
Jeffries (D-N.Y.) was identified as the target of the threat in court filings submitted by a state trooper.
An attorney was not listed for Moynihan the morning of Oct. 21.
The FBI learned of the threat on Oct. 18, when an anonymous source told authorities that Moynihan wanted to assassinate Jeffries, according to an application for a temporary extreme risk protection order, which has been granted.
“(Moynihan) stated that in a few days, he would kill Congressman Jeffries in New York City for ‘the future,’” the state trooper wrote in the filing.
The person who reported Moynihan was concerned about his “homicidal ideations” and that he might be abusing narcotics, the filing states.
Moynihan is accused of writing in a text message that he planned to kill Jeffries during an event in New York City on Oct. 20, when Jeffries was at the Economic Club of New York, according to court documents reviewed by CBS News.
“Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” read his message, court documents say, according to CBS News.
Trump pardoned Moynihan on Jan. 20, the day of his second presidential inauguration, in connection with the Capitol riot, court records show.
In February 2023, Moynihan was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison over his involvement in the Capitol attack, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Moynihan breached a security perimeter on the east side of the Capitol, and entered the building with other accused rioters, federal prosecutors said.
He went into the Senate gallery, then the Senate chamber, where he rifled through a notebook on a senator’s desk, according to prosecutors.
Moynihan was accused of removing pages from the notebook and taking photos with his phone.
“While looking through the papers, he said, ‘There’s gotta be something in here we can (expletive) use against these (expletive)bags,’” prosecutors said.
Law enforcement ultimately escorted him from the Capitol, according to prosecutors.
Moynihan has been arraigned in the Town of Clinton Court in connection with the threats against Jeffries, police said. Clinton is about a 50-mile drive east from Syracuse.
He is detained in the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center on $10,000 cash bail, a $30,000 bond, or an $80,000 partially secured bond, according to authorities.
His next court appearance is set for Oct. 23, police said.
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