A newly released criminal complaint against the upstate New York man charged with plotting to kill the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, describes how the would-be assassin viewed Mr. Jeffries as a “terrorist” who “must be eliminated.”  

Christopher Moynihan, 34, who participated in the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and was one of more than 1,500 January 6 protesters pardoned by President Trump, was arrested on Saturday and charged with making threats to kill Mr. Jeffries. 

New York State police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Poughkeepsie, announced in a press release that “in conjunction” with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, it had arrested Mr. Moynihan, of Clinton in Dutchess County, “for Making a Terroristic Threat, a Class D felony.” 

According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Moynihan had sent text messages, whose recipient has not been made public, that “placed the recipient in reasonable fear of the imminent murder and assassination of Hakeem Jeffries by the defendant.” 

“On or about October 17,” the complaint details, Mr. Moynihan sent text messages, stating, “Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live.” 

Another message read, “Even if I am hated he must be eliminated.” And in a third message, Mr. Moynihan wrote, “I will kill him for the future.” 

According to the local news station 7 News WWNYTV and the Associated Press, Mr. Moynihan sent the text messages on Friday, one day before his arrest. WWNYTV also reported that Mr.Moynihan was arraigned at the local courthouse at Clinton on Sunday.

He was remanded to the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center and is being held at $10,000 cash bail, $30,000 bond, or an $80,000 partially secured bond. 

During a press event on Tuesday, Mr. Jeffries said that “we’re living in a moment of extreme political violence.” His office also released an official statement, writing, “I am grateful to state and federal law enforcement 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.”  

Mr. Jeffries, who’s been busy denouncing President Trump daily on the matter of the ongoing government shutdown, took the opportunity to criticize Mr. Trump for the mass pardons he issued for the January 6 protesters.

“The person arrested,” Mr. Jeffries’s statement went on, “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. … 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.”  

Mr. Moynihan was among nearly 1,590 people who were criminally charged for entering the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and were  pardoned by Mr. Trump on the day he was sworn in as the 47th president.   

In February 2023, Mr. Moynihan was sentenced to 21 months in prison and 36 months supervised release for his conviction of obstructing an official proceeding on January 6, 2021. 

Mr. Moynihan was accused of breaking through a security perimeter and entering the Senate chamber in the Capitol, where he looked through a notebook lying on a senator’s desk and took photos with his cellphone. According to prosecutors, who presented screenshots from a video where Mr. Moynihan is seen on the Capitol, he said, “There’s got to be something in here we can f—ing use against these —-bags.” 

When Mr. Trump granted pardons and commutations to those who had been convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at the Capitol on January 6, he issued a proclamation stating that this act of clemency was intended to terminate “a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.” 

Mr. Moynihan’s next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.