Man pardoned after storming Capitol is charged with threatening to kill
Hakeem Jeffries
[October 22, 2025]
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A man whose convictions for storming the U.S. Capitol
were erased by President Donald Trump's mass pardons has been arrested
on a charge that he threatened to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem
Jeffries.
Christopher P. Moynihan is accused of sending a text message on Friday
noting that Jeffries, a New York Democrat, would be making a speech in
New York City this week.
“I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” Moynihan wrote, according to a
report by a state police investigator. Moynihan also wrote that Jeffries
“must be eliminated” and texted, “I will kill him for the future,” the
police report says.
Moynihan, of Clinton, New York, is charged with a felony count of making
a terroristic threat. It was unclear if he had an attorney representing
him in the case, and efforts to contact him and his parents by email and
phone were unsuccessful.
Moynihan who's 34, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for joining a
mob's Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. In January, he was among
hundreds of convicted Capitol rioters who received a pardon from Trump
on the Republican president's first day back in the White House.
Jeffries thanked investigators “for their swift and decisive action to
apprehend a dangerous individual who made a credible death threat
against me with every intention to carry it out.”
“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 said
in a statement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about the case during a news
conference on Tuesday and said he did not know any details of the threat
against Jeffries.
“We denounce violence from anybody, anytime. Those people should be
arrested and tried,” said Johnson, a Louisiana Republican.
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This image from Senate Television shows Christopher Moynihan looking
through papers from the desk of a senator in the Senate Chamber at
the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (Senate Television via
AP)
The New York State Police said it was notified of the threat by an
FBI task force on Saturday. Moynihan was arraigned Sunday in a local
court in New York's Dutchess County. He is due back in the Town of
Clinton Court on Thursday.
Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi said his office is
reviewing the case “for legal and factual sufficiency.”
“Threats made against elected officials and members of the public
will not be tolerated,” Parisi said in a statement Tuesday.
Moynihan's arrest was first reported by CBS News.
On Jan. 6, Moynihan breached police barricades before entering the
Capitol through the Rotunda Door. He entered the Senate chamber,
rifled through a notebook on a senator’s desk and joined other
rioters in shouting and chanting at the Senate dais, prosecutors
said.
“Moynihan did not leave the Senate Chamber until he was forced out
by police,” they wrote.
In 2022, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper convicted Moynihan
of a felony for obstructing the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for
certifying Democrat Joe Biden's victory over Trump in the 2020
presidential election. Moynihan also pleaded guilty to five other
riot-related counts.
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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
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