**Jonathan Munafo, Pardoned Capitol Riot Defendant, Arrested Again for Violating Supervised Release**

Jonathan Munafo, one of the defendants pardoned by former President Donald Trump for his involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot, has once again run afoul of the law. According to court records reviewed by CBS News, Munafo was arrested on Tuesday in Richmond, Virginia, for allegedly violating conditions of his supervised release in a federal threats case.

In a court filing on Wednesday, the Justice Department revealed that Munafo had absconded from supervision in the Northern District of New York. As a result, the district’s probation officer filed a petition reporting the violation and requested that Munafo’s supervised release be revoked.

Munafo initially gained notoriety for his participation in the January 6 Capitol riot. Prosecutors said he assaulted a Metropolitan Police Department officer by punching him twice while trying to take the officer’s riot shield. Munafo was pardoned by President Trump last year along with other defendants convicted or accused of violent attacks on law enforcement during the Capitol siege.

However, the pardon did not fully absolve Munafo of legal troubles. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to federal threats charges in Michigan. Prosecutors said that on January 5, 2021, Munafo made dozens of menacing phone calls to a government facility near Battle Creek, Michigan. During these calls, he threatened to “cut the throat” of a 911 dispatcher and also threatened the dispatcher’s family.

Further violations followed. In May 2025, local authorities accused Munafo of flooding his jail cell and damaging a sprinkler device in Rensselaer County, New York, violating his release conditions. A court docket indicated that Munafo acknowledged these violations and was sentenced in November to an additional seven months in prison. It remains unclear if Munafo began serving this sentence.

Additional efforts to locate Munafo have been unsuccessful. A December court record states that an officer attempted to contact Munafo on a cellphone he used during his first supervision term, but the number was no longer active. Attempts to reach a friend of Munafo, Dennis Rodgers, also failed.

According to Wednesday’s Justice Department filing, Munafo is scheduled to appear for a court hearing regarding his latest violation on Monday in federal court in Richmond.

Munafo was a high-profile figure among the Capitol riot prosecutions. Beyond assaulting a police officer, prosecutors said he took the officer’s riot shield and slipped away into the crowd, leaving the officer vulnerable to further attacks by other rioters.

Munafo’s arrest is the latest in a string of new legal troubles faced by Jan. 6 defendants after receiving pardons. For instance:

– Bryan Betancur, 28, was arrested Monday night for assault and battery on a train in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

– John Banuelos, 40, was charged with a violent attack against a woman that occurred in 2018, three years before the Capitol siege. Banuelos was identified by investigators and arrested in 2025. He had been pardoned ahead of trial in his Capitol Riot case, in which he was accused of firing a gun in the air during the mob violence.

– Zachary Alam, a convicted Capitol rioter from Virginia released after the Trump pardons, was arrested in May for breaking and entering a home near Richmond, Virginia.

As these cases continue to unfold, they shed light on ongoing challenges in managing justice for those involved in the Capitol riot and their subsequent conduct.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jan-6-defendant-arrested-new-charges/