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A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 9 March 2022

1st trial in Capitol riot ends in conviction on all counts

Continued from Front charges but one: He said a Florida man who plead- approached them on the sible government witness
they should convict him ed guilty to attacking po- west side of the Capitol. but didn’t testify. She said
During the trial’s closing ar- of a misdemeanor charge lice officers at the Capitol. Reffitt was armed with a that she would talk more
guments on Monday, As- that he entered and re- The riot resulted in the Smith & Wesson pistol in a later on her own time, but:
sistant U.S. Attorney Risa mained in a restricted area. deaths of five people, in- holster on his waist, carry- “Kids should never be used
Berkower told jurors that Reffitt faced a total of five cluding a police officer. ing zip-tie handcuffs and against the parents.”
Reffitt drove to Washing- counts: obstruction of an More than 100 officers were wearing body armor and Jackson Reffitt used a cell-
ton, D.C., intending to stop official proceeding, being injured. Rioters caused over a helmet equipped with phone app to secretly re-
Congress from certifying unlawfully present on Capi- $1 million in damage to the a video camera when he cord his father boasting
President Joe Biden’s elec- tol grounds while armed Capitol. advanced on police, ac- about his role in the riot. Ju-
toral victory. Reffitt proudly with a firearm, transporting U.S. District Judge Dabney cording to prosecutors. rors heard excerpts of that
“lit the fire” that allowed firearms during a civil disor- Friedrich presided over Ref- He retreated after an offi- family conversation.
others in a mob to over- der, interfering with law en- fitt’s trial. Trump nominated cer pepper sprayed him in Jackson Reffitt initially con-
whelm Capitol police offi- forcement officers during a her in 2017. the face, but he waved on tacted the FBI on Christmas
cers near the Senate doors, civil disorder, and obstruc- Welch has said Reffitt other rioters who ultimately Eve, less than two weeks
the prosecutor said. tion of justice. worked as a rig manager breached the building, before the riot, to report
Reffitt was not accused of He will be sentenced June and as a consultant in the prosecutors said. concerns about his father’s
entering the Capitol build- 8. He could receive 20 petroleum industry before Before the crowd ad- behavior and increasingly
ing. Defense attorney Wil- years in prison on the top COVID-19 restrictions ef- vanced, Reffitt used a worrisome rhetoric. But the
liam Welch said there is no charge alone, but he’s like- fectively shut down his busi- megaphone to shout at FBI didn’t respond until Jan.
evidence that Reffitt dam- ly to face far less time be- ness. police to step aside and 6, after the riot erupted.
aged property, used force hind bars. Jurors saw videos that cap- to urge the mob to push Another key witness, Rocky
or physically harmed any- Other rioters have pleaded tured the confrontation be- forward and overtake offi- Hardie, said he and Reffitt
body. guilty; the longest sentence tween a few Capitol police cers. Assistant U.S. Attorney were members of “Texas
The defense lawyer urged so far is five years and three officers and a mob of peo- Jeffrey Nestler said Reffitt Three Percenters” militia
jurors to acquit Reffitt of all months for Robert Palmer, ple, including Reffitt, who played a leadership role group.
that day. The Three Percenters mili-
During last Friday’s testimo- tia movement refers to the
ny, prosecutors zoomed in myth that only 3% of Ameri-
on a video image of Reffitt cans fought in the Revo-
at the Capitol. FBI Special lutionary War against the
Agent Laird Hightower said British.
the image shows “a silvery Hardie drove from Texas to
metallic linear object” in Washington with Reffitt. He
a holster protruding from testified that both of them
under Reffitt’s jacket as he were armed with holstered
leaned forward. handguns when they at-
Shauni Kerkhoff, who was tended then-President
one of the Capitol police Donald Trump’s “Stop the
officers who tried to repel Steal” rally before the riot
Reffitt, said she launched erupted. Reffitt also took
pepperballs that didn’t an AR-15 rifle to Washing-
stop him from advancing. ton but left it locked up in
She testified that Reffitt ap- his car, Hardie said.
peared to be leading the Hardie said Reffitt talked
crowd up stairs toward po- about dragging lawmak-
lice. ers out of the Capitol and
Reffitt’s 19-year-old son, replacing them with peo-
Jackson, testified last Thurs- ple who would “follow the
day that his father threat- Constitution.” Hardie also
ened him and his sister, said Reffitt gave him two
then 16, after he drove pairs of zip-tie cuffs in case
home from Washington. they needed to detain
Reffitt told his children they anybody.
would be traitors if they re- Reffitt was arrested less
ported him to authorities than a week after the riot.
and said “traitors get shot,” The FBI found a handgun in
Jackson Reffitt recalled. a holster on a nightstand in
He said the threat terrified the defendant’s bedroom
him. His younger sister, Pey- when they searched his
ton, was listed as a pos- home near Dallas.q