WASHINGTON — Guy Reffitt, a 49-year-old unemployed oil rig worker from Wylie who stormed the U.S. Capitol with a holstered pistol, became on Tuesday the first...
Guy Reffitt, 49, did not testify in his own defense during the trial in Washington, D.C. A jury found that the Three Percenter militia adherent stormed the Capitol while armed with a handgun.
The jury found Guy Reffitt guilty of interfering with police officers who were guarding the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and of obstructing justice for threatening his two teenage children if they reported him to law enforcement after the attack. Roper said the jury pool in Washington, D.C., is another advantage for the government. That’s because it tends to include more progressive-minded people, many of whom work or have worked for the government and “will have a certain opinion about the case.”Dallas defense attorney Derek Staub said the verdict did not surprise him.Reffitt didn’t testify at his trial, which started last Wednesday. He didn’t visibly react to the verdict, but his face was covered by a mask.
Reffitt was found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding, being unlawfully present on Capitol grounds while armed with a firearm, transporting firearms during a civil disorder, interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder and obstruction of justice. Before the crowd advanced, Reffitt used a megaphone to shout at police to step aside and to urge the mob to push forward and overtake officers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler said Reffitt played a leadership role that day.
Jackson Reffitt, then 18, said the threat terrified him. His younger sister, Peyton, was listed as a possible government witness but didn’t testify. Hardie drove from Texas to Washington with Reffitt. He testified that both of them were armed with holstered handguns when they attended then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally before the riot erupted. Reffitt also took an AR-15 rifle to Washington but left it locked up in his car, Hardie said.
Those who go to trial and lose will face harsher penalties due to how the federal sentencing rules work. Reffitt could be facing “some serious time,” Roper said.
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