US arrests Capitol riot participant pardoned by Trump — The Guardian
US authorities have arrested Cleveland Meredith of North Carolina, whom Donald Trump pardoned in a case connected to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. He now faces new charges over alleged death threats against federal judges who handled his and other cases after the attack on the Capitol.
As The Guardian reports, the basis for the arrest was a Facebook post by Meredith published in April. According to the investigation, he called in it for the execution of all federal judges in cases related to the January 6 events.
Threats against judges
Federal prosecutors in Georgia, where the message was sent from according to their information, stated in the complaint that the post contained a direct threat of execution and, under the specific circumstances, constituted a real threat. They believe Meredith knowingly published the message on April 23, 2026, understanding that it could be perceived as a threat or disregarding that risk.
Last month, according to the US government, Meredith also posted other alarming messages calling for violence after the midterm elections. In particular, he wrote about shootings beginning on November 4, 2026, and called the midterm elections an “absolute bloodbath.”
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Previous case
In December 2021, Meredith was sentenced to 28 months in prison after pleading guilty to a charge related to threatening to shoot then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Prosecutors said that on January 6, 2021, he was traveling from Colorado to Washington, but arrived late due to a vehicle breakdown and did not witness the clashes near the Capitol.
According to prosecutors, after a relative told Meredith's mother about the threat against Pelosi and she contacted the FBI, agents tracked him down at a hotel near the Capitol. In Meredith's trailer, they found a 9mm semi-automatic firearm, a rifle with an optical sight, about 2,500 rounds of ammunition, and high-capacity magazines.
On the first day after returning to office as president in 2025, Trump pardoned Meredith as part of a broad decision to pardon nearly 1,600 defendants in cases related to the Capitol riot. In a motion to detain Meredith, prosecutors said that he had threatened and harassed people and institutions online for at least 16 months. According to them, in July 2025 the FBI had already spoken with him over threats against an unnamed person: Meredith admitted writing those messages but denied that they were threatening in nature.
