FBI Arrests Trump-Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Over Threat to 'Execute' Federal Judges

Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr., a Georgia man President Trump pardoned along with more than 1,000 other Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot defendants, was charged this week with threatening to "execute" federal judges. An FBI affidavit filed Oct. 29 accuses Meredith of posting on Facebook in April that "ALL J6 Federal JUDGES will be EXECUTED!", a threat the FBI says he made from Georgia against officials in Washington, D.C. Agents had already interviewed Meredith twice, in 2024 and 2025, over threatening-looking social media posts. His original Jan. 6 case ended in a 28-month sentence for threatening to shoot then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Trump's pardon erased that conviction along with more than 1,000 others.

The case tests the consequences of Trump's blanket Jan. 6 clemency, which erased convictions without regard to the underlying conduct or any supervision afterward. Opponents warned the mass pardon would return people convicted of violent threats to the public unsupervised; Meredith's new arrest, less than two years after his release, is among the clearest examples cited since.

Meredith now faces a federal felony charge of interstate communication of threats. Neither source reporting the charge states his custody status or a court date.