Man pardoned in Jan. 6 clemency charged over Facebook post that FBI affidavit says threatened federal judges; detention hearing set for Thursday

A federal magistrate judge in Atlanta ordered Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr. held in custody until a detention hearing on Thursday, Nov. 5, after his arrest on Monday, Nov. 2, on a charge of threatening federal judges in a Facebook post, court records show.¹² Meredith was among those covered by President Donald Trump’s January 2025 pardons tied to Jan. 6, 2021, according to the complaint.³⁴

The criminal complaint, filed Oct. 29 in the Northern District of Georgia, charges one count of interstate threats under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c).³² The charge is an allegation. Meredith has not been convicted of it, and no court record opened through Tuesday, Nov. 3, shows an indictment or a plea.⁵

What the complaint says

FBI Special Agent Richard Taylor swore in an affidavit that the FBI received an online tip on April 23, 2026, about a public post on a Facebook account in the name Cleve Meredith. The post read, “ALL J6 Federal JUDGES will be EXECUTED!” Taylor wrote that the post appeared to be directed at public officials in Washington, D.C.³

The affidavit says records from Meta, T-Mobile and Google tied the account to Meredith. Taylor wrote that the message “constituted a true threat under the circumstances” and that Meredith’s “history of violent online rhetoric” indicated he sent it knowingly. U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Elizabeth McBath found probable cause, which is not a finding of guilt.³

The detention request

Prosecutors asked the court to detain Meredith, saying no release conditions would reasonably assure the safety of any other person and the community.⁶ A supplemental motion calls him “a serious danger to the community.”²

That filing says Meredith was referred to the FBI in July 2025 for threatening an individual by text and Facebook. It says that when interviewed about his posts and communications he “acknowledged making them but denied they were threatening in nature.” It says that beginning Oct. 6 he posted messages “calling for violence following the midterm elections,” and it reproduces a Facebook screenshot dated Oct. 6 that reads in part, “firing squads will commence on Wednesday, 11/04/26.”² Atlanta News First also reported that wording.⁷ Those later posts are not charged: the complaint’s one count concerns the April 23 post, and the complaint does not mention them.³

Minutes of the Nov. 2 initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard list federal defender Keenon Twymon as Meredith’s attorney and set a preliminary hearing for 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 5.⁵ The Washington Post reported that the public defender assigned to Meredith did not immediately return a request for comment. It credited Court Watch with first reporting the filings.⁸

The earlier case and the pardon

The affidavit says Meredith pleaded guilty on Sept. 10, 2021, to interstate threats. It says he admitted driving to Washington on the evening of Jan. 6, 2021, with a pistol, a rifle and about 2,500 rounds of ammunition, and texting a relative on Jan. 7 that he intended to “put a bullet” in the head of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.³ He was sentenced to 28 months in prison, the Justice Department announced on Dec. 14, 2021.⁹

A footnote in the complaint says he “was later pardoned for this conviction,” citing Proclamation 10887.³ Signed Jan. 20, 2025, it pardons people convicted of offenses related to Jan. 6, 2021, at or near the Capitol, other than 14 whose sentences it commuted.⁴

What the records do not show

• The complaint names no judge as a target and does not say any judge saw the post.³
• No detention ruling appears in the records opened; the order sets the hearing for Nov. 5.¹ The docket sheet could not be opened; Documents 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9 were not available.
• No court record opened rules on who wrote the posts or whether any is a threat.²
• The proclamation names no recipients; its application to Meredith rests on the complaint’s footnote.⁴