15 Years Prison Time For Convicted Trump Loving Jan 6 Rioter Sought By Prosecutors

0
989

Federal prosecutors this week asked federal Judge Dabney Friedrich to impose a sentence of 15 years in prison for Texas man Guy Reffitt, the first participant in the Capitol riot to be convicted at a jury trial. The request is above advisory guidelines for Reffitt’s case: prosecutors want a so-called terrorism enhancement applied.

In other words, although none of Reffitt’s original charges apparently include the specific allegation of terrorism, prosecutors asked for his actions to be treated as having a terrorist nature in determining his sentence. Should Reffitt be sentenced to 15 years, it would make his stint in prison the longest imposed on any Capitol rioter — by far. Among other features of his case, Reffitt was identified by The Washington Post as a recruiter for the violent, far-right group known as the Three Percenters, and at the Capitol, he had a loaded gun. “Reffitt sought not just to stop Congress, but also to physically attack, remove, and replace the legislators who were serving in Congress,” prosecutors said in the new court filing outlining their recommendations for his sentencing.

Reffitt carried plastic handcuffs while in D.C. for the riot, providing an apparent piece of physical evidence that he was prepared to attempt to overpower and essentially capture certain individuals. The filing describes what Reffitt did as “a quintessential example of an intent to both influence and retaliate against government conduct through intimidation or coercion” — meeting a definition established in federal law for actions that amount to terrorism, which would make the potential for a significantly longer prison sentence apply to Reffitt.

Previously, federal law enforcement personnel in counter-terrorism fields have already conducted substantial amounts of work on Capitol riot-related cases, making the general federal stance on the nature of what took place at the Capitol fairly clear. Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, also spelled it out in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing all the way back in March of last year: “That attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple, and it’s behavior that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism,” he said. Nonetheless, federal prosecutors had apparently yet to formally accuse a member of the Capitol mob of “terrorism” until Reffitt’s case. He’ll be sentenced August 1. Reffitt’s defense is seeking two years in prison — below the advisory guidelines that apply to his case. The charges of which Reffitt was convicted back in March include civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a firearm, and obstruction of justice.

The last charge related to attempts by Reffitt after the riot to intimidate members of his family into staying quiet. Amid increasing attention by the House panel investigating the Capitol riot on what Trump did on January 6, it’s worth noting that Reffitt and a fellow Three Percenters member with whom he went from Texas to D.C. attended the Trump rally in the capital that day before heading to the Capitol. They obviously didn’t hear anything there that deterred them. Reffitt never actually went inside the Capitol on the day of the riot — a fact his defense noted in their own arguments related to his sentencing — but that doesn’t seem to have been for a lack of trying. He repeatedly clashed with police and was repeatedly hit by items cops were attempting to use for crowd control.

Image: Brett Davis/ Creative Commons