Opening the first trial for crimes related to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors told a jury Wednesday that Guy Reffitt was armed and ready to wreak havoc when he led the mob at the front of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The Texas resident and alleged member of the Texas Three Percenters militia was the “tip of the mob’s spear,” U.S. Assistant Attorney Jeffrey Nestler told jurors gathered in a federal courtroom in Washington, D.C.
Traveling far from his Wylie, Texas, home, Reffitt “lit the match that started the fire” that day, prosecutors argued, and ultimately sparked one of the worst assaults on the Capitol since 1812.
The 49-year-old ex-oil rig manager faces multiple counts including two civil disorder charges, obstruction of justice, obstruction of an official proceeding, and entering a restricted area with a firearm. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each charge. He has pleaded not guilty.
“He planned to light the match that would start the fire. He wanted to stop Congress from doing its job. On January 6, with his bulletproof vest, helmet, megaphone, flex cuffs, and holstered gun, the defendant went to the Capitol and did exactly what he said he was going to do,” Nestler said in court Wednesday, according to The Washington Post.
Sharing graphic footage from the day and disturbing text messages Reffitt sent before and after storming the Capitol, Politico reported that Nestler rattled off Reffitt’s obscenity-laced screeds as he paced before jurors.
“We’re taking the Capitol before the day is over, ripping them out by their hair—every fucking one of them,” Reffitt was heard saying on video on Jan. 6 from Trump’s rally at the Ellipse.
Nestler continued to read Reffitt’s remarks from the day:
“I just want to see Pelosi’s head hitting every fucking stair on the way out—and Mitch McMcConnell too,” he said.
And lest the jury thinks federal prosecutors are being hyperbolic about Reffitt’s role, Nestler emphasized it was not the U.S. government that first dubbed him the “match that started the fire.”
Reffitt said it himself on Telegram.
“I was the first person to light the fire on the Capitol steps,” he wrote.
Prosecutors say Reffitt also brushed off being hit with pepper balls during the melee, writing on Telegram that he “laughed” when hit.
“I had my .40 on my side, they’re lucky we didn’t shoot them,” Reffitt once said, according to prosecutors.
His attorney, William Welch, maintains Reffitt never used force, never damaged any property, and did not actually physically harm anyone on Jan. 6. While government attorneys took over an hour to paint the picture for jurors, Welch’s opening arguments lasted just minutes.
“Guy Reffitt did not go in the Capitol. He did not break anything. He did not take anything. Guy does brag. He exaggerates and he rants. He uses a lot of hyperbole and that upsets people,” Welch said. “The evidence will show that this case has been a rush to judgment.”
Welch emphasized that Reffitt never stopped police from arresting anyone nor did he assault anyone. The defense attorney also brushed off the government’s allegation that Reffitt was armed. Technically, Welch contends, the pistol Reffitt carried into D.C. on Jan. 6 was disassembled.
Prosecutors claim that Reffitt only fell back from officers repelling him once he was pepper-sprayed in the face. Before the face shot, he was steadily advancing up the Capitol steps, allegedly laughing as he went.
During the first day of trial Wednesday, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Shauni Kerkhoff offered jurors her first-hand observations of Reffitt on Jan. 6, according to live updates from the courtroom posted by BuzzFeed.
“Every time he took a step, they took a step,” Kerkhoff said, referring to the crowd behind Reffitt.
“It was becoming a dire situation,” Kerkhoff said.
Reffitt is seen on surveillance footage being sprayed and rubbing his eyes but continuing to advance. As more pepper spray is about to be used, Reffitt is seen waving over other rioters with one arm.
Kerkhoff said she likely fired anywhere from 40 to 50 pepper balls at Reffitt.
The Washington Post noted that Nestler told jurors Wednesday that even if Reffitt did not actually get into the Capitol building, he cleared the way for others right behind him.
“His work was done,” Nestler said.
Prosecutors told jurors they could expect to hear from key witnesses, like Reffitt’s children, as the trial unfolds.
Two days after he allegedly stormed the Capitol, Reffitt boasted about it to his wife, son, and daughter. But as Reffitt suspected he was being monitored by the FBI, he lashed out at his family. He threatened to shoot his son and told his daughter he would “put a bullet through” her phone if she talked about him online.
Reffitt’s daughter at a recent bail hearing chalked up her father’s remarks to overblown rhetoric. This is expected to be his key defense against the obstruction of justice charge.
Trump-appointed Judge Dabney Friedrich is presiding. Jury selection took roughly two days and after more than 50 jury interviews in a process known as voir dire, nine men were seated along with seven women.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department dockets for other Jan. 6 defendants remained busy.
Joshua James, one of the Oath Keepers who served on Roger Stone’s security detail, is expected to accept a plea deal by the end of Wednesday.
James was arrested last March and charged in April. Prosecutors say the Arab, Alabama, resident was one of Stone’s bodyguards on both Jan. 5 and Jan. 6. According to the superseding indictment brought against fellow Oath Keepers charged with sedition, prosecutors said James and fellow member Roberto Minuta drove a golf cart from their hotel in D.C. to get to the Capitol.
Once inside, they pushed their way past police officers. James, like Minuta, was sporting military gear, the government alleges, and James at one point was seen attacking police and yelling at them: “Get out of my Capitol. This is my fucking building.”
If James accepts the plea deal, he will be the first Oath Keeper to do so in relation to the seditious conspiracy charges.
Oath Keeper ringleader Elmer Stewart Rhodes is currently sitting in jail in Oklahoma as he awaits his sedition trial in Washington. Rhodes says he is not guilty.
The conservative-leaning Gateway Pundit posted an audio interview with Rhodes speaking from the medium-security facility on Feb. 28. In the clip, Rhodes expressed his frustration with the treatment of Jan. 6 defendants by those on the right.
“The GOP is not helping at all and frankly, I mean, President Trump, I’ll give him props for saying he may pardon us when he’s—if he’s reelected, but he needs to step up and his supporters need to raise money for our legal defense because he is a co-defendant along with me and Oath Keepers in several civil suits and he’s ultimately a criminal target as well,” Rhodes said.
While one important plea deal is on the horizon from that Oath Keeper, another alleged Oath Keeper arrest in connection to Jan. 6 has been made this week.
Authorities arrested Austin, Texas, resident Geoffrey Shough on March 1 for one felony and four misdemeanors including civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct, and demonstrating in a capitol building.
The FBI was clued into Shough after an anonymous tip was made on behalf of Shough’s girlfriend, identified in court papers as “LP.” The couple broke up one week before she went to authorities. A review by the FBI of Shough’s financial records indicated he has made donations to the Oath Keepers organization before the attack.
Elsewhere in the massive Department of Justice-led probe of Jan. 6, a detention recommendation has been made for Jan. 6 defendant Duke Edward Wilson.
Prosecutors asked a judge on Tuesday to sentence Wilson to 41 to 51 months in prison after he agreed to plead guilty in September to two felony counts including assaulting a police officer.
Duke Edward Wilson - Plea Agreement - Aug 2021 by Daily Kos on Scribd
According to court records, the 67-year-old Idaho resident “indiscriminately” attacked officers, at one point striking at one with a PVC pipe. He later clashed with an officer as he tried to yank their shield away. As he struggled over the shield, he pushed one cop to the ground and then joined in with other rioters pushing another officer to the ground.
The Justice Department has charged over 750 people with crimes related to the insurrection.