Jonathan J. Munafo, 36, of Albany, New York, United States has once again found himself in federal custody. For this actions during the riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., USA on January 6, 2021, he received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump in 2025.
On March 3, 2026, Munafo was arrested in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He is accused of absconding from his court-ordered supervision in the Northern District of New York, prompting probation officers to request a formal revocation of his release.
Jonathan Munafo
While Munafo was pardoned for the felony assault of a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer at the U.S. Capitol, that clemency did not cover a separate 2022 federal case. In that instance, he pleaded guilty to making dozens of menacing phone calls to a government facility near Battle Creek, Michigan, USA on January 5, 2021—just one day before the U.S. Capitol siege. During these calls, he reportedly threatened to “cut the throat” of a 911 dispatcher and leveled threats against the dispatcher’s family.
Munafo’s history of non-compliance continued into May 2025, when he was accused of damaging property while in a Rensselaer County, New York jail, specifically flooding his cell and breaking a sprinkler. Following an admission of these violations, he was sentenced in November 2025 to an additional seven months of incarceration. However, recent attempts by probation officers to locate him via his last known cellphone and associates proved fruitless, leading to his current arrest in Virginia.
U.S. Capitol riot
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Munafo’s initial involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot in 2021 was marked by significant aggression. Having traveled to Washington, D.C. from Albany, he joined the mob on the Lower West Terrace. Clad in a gas mask, he positioned himself at the front lines of the rioters attempting to breach the building.
Court records from Munafo’s 2023 sentencing reveal a timeline of violent escalations:
- Property Damage: He used two different poles to strike a Capitol office window approximately 13 times while attempting to scale the building walls.
- Incitement: He was observed cajoled the crowd, shouting and chanting to rile up other participants.
- Assault: At approximately 3:21 p.m., He engaged in a violent struggle with an MPD officer. He punched the officer twice—with enough force to snap the officer’s head back—while successfully stripping the officer of his riot shield.
For these actions, U.S. District Chief Judge James E. Boasberg originally sentenced Munafo in September 2023 to 33 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release, along with a $2,000 restitution order. While the 2025 pardon vacated those specific convictions, his failure to adhere to the terms of his separate Michigan sentence has resulted in his return to the federal court system, with a hearing scheduled in Richmond on March 9, 2026.
CONAN Daily 