The first January 6th defendant to take his case to trial was convicted by a jury on Tuesday.
NBC News explains:
Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who attempted to storm the U.S. Capitol while allegedly armed with a gun and zip ties, was convicted of all five counts he was charged with, including transport of a firearm in support of civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding. Jurors began deliberating on Tuesday morning after a week-long trial in which they heard testimony from Reffitt’s teenage son Jackson Reffitt, who tipped off the FBI about his father before the Jan. 6 attack.
CBS News adds:
According to the recordings played for the jury, Jackson captured his father admitting he had carried a gun outside the Capitol, an offense that is punishable by years in prison. “You carried a weapon onto Capitol grounds,” Jackson is heard saying. “Okay,” Guy responded, adding later, “I did it. I did bring a weapon on property that we own.”
Business Insider adds:
Jackson Reffitt also recalled how his father grew distressed as law enforcement tracked down and arrested suspected Capitol rioters in the weeks after the January 6 attack. He described a conversation in which Guy Reffitt told him and his younger sister that they would be traitors if they turned him into law enforcement — and that “traitors get shot.”
“I was pretty grossed out hearing my father say that,” Jackson Reffitt testified Thursday, on the fourth day of the trial.
Reffitt, 49-years old, was a member of the far-right militia group the Texas Three Percenters. He now faces decades in prison.
On January 6th, prosecutors said Reffitt engaged in a prolonged standoff with police officers that allowed other rioters to pour into the Capitol.
Several police officers testified at Reffitt’s trial and said he led a dangerous pact and taunted law enforcement personnel, calling them “traitors” unable to stop the mob.
More from Insider:
Prosecutors described Reffitt as the “tip of his mob’s spear,” and showed video footage of him ascending stairs outside the Capitol wearing a tactical vest and a helmet mounted with a GoPro-style camera.
Reffitt’s trial presented an opportunity for the Justice Department to secure a conviction that would send a message to other accused Capitol rioters planning to go before a jury rather than plead guilty.
POLITICO provides additional context:
The Reffitt trial is the first of dozens expected later this year. More than 800 people have been charged for conduct connected to the Capitol breach, and more than 200 of them have pleaded guilty to crimes ranging from seditious conspiracy and obstruction to simple trespassing and parading in a restricted area.
