Jury finds first US Capitol riot defendant to go on trial guilty on all counts

[Wicked Blue]

Source: CNN

(CNN)A jury in Washington, DC, on Tuesday found January 6 rioter Guy Reffitt guilty of all five charges he faced related to the US Capitol attack, in the pivotal outcome of the first federal trial related to the riot.

Reffitt was charged with five counts -- wanting to obstruct the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election, transporting guns into DC, carrying a Smith & Wesson handgun onto the restricted grounds of the Capitol, interfering with Capitol Police protecting the Upper West Terrace and obstructing justice by threatening his son and daughter when he returned to Texas.

The jury of six men and six women in DC's federal court deliberated for just under 4 hours Tuesday.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/08/politics/january-6-reffitt-verdict/index.html

[SheltieLover]

1. Give the pos life, no parole!

[Wicked Blue]

5. He threatened the lives of his own kids

to protect his *ss.

[SheltieLover]

16. Yup he did!

Would that not also be obstruction or witness tampering?

[localroger]

26. He was convicted of obstruction for it. /nt

[SheltieLover]

27. Ty!

[Chainfire]

6. I hope the sentence is not three hail Marys and a "don't do it again, please."

[Wicked Blue]

13. Buzzfeed News has a more detailed article

Excerpt from Buzzfeed News:

Reffitt faced a five-count indictment charging him with bringing guns to DC to support a “civil disorder,” obstructing an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, being in a restricted area with a handgun, interfering with police during a civil disorder that affected interstate commerce, and obstructing justice by threatening his children to not cooperate with the FBI. The two obstruction counts were the most serious, carrying maximum sentences of 20 years in prison. Reffitt faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted of having a gun in a restricted area, and up to five years for each of the civil disorder counts. (my boldface)

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/guy-reffitt-capitol-riot-verdict-guilty?ref=bfnsplash

[SheltieLover]

17. Thx!

Counting 50 yrs! Let's hope the judge has the spine to mete it out!

[Ray Bruns]

20. Please be 20. Please be 20. Please be 20.

[pandr32]

2. Good news!

I sure hope this gets the attention of the others.

[L. Coyote]

9. "after less than 4 hours of deliberating"

That should get their attention! And, on all five counts.

1. Obstruction of official proceeding
2. Being unlawfully on Capitol grounds while armed w/ firearm
3. Transporting firearms during civil disorder
4. Interfering w/ officers during civil disorder
5. Obstruction of justice

Link to tweet

[rpannier]

43. His wife is urging the others not to take plea deals

She claims this decision was rendered to intimidate the other defendants

[pandr32]

48. Doesn't matter

If it happened to one, it can happen to others. It will be every man for themself. If they don't take a deal they will face prison on multiple charges. Either way we win.

[Chainfire]

3. I hope the judge socks it to him, baby.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Justice with lightning

How does one expect to escape those charges? These people appear to me to believe that all Americans, including any potential jury, see the world with the same lens they use.

[ificandream]

7. Go to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.

]

[monkeyman1]

37. we need to get the one's in congress !!

[Achilleaze]

8. Republican traitors deserve to be locked up

for betraying America.

[no_hypocrisy]

10. Sucker, you just lost your right to vote

But, on the bright side, you don't have to worry about your vote being "stolen" again.

[ificandream]

18. LOL!!!

[COL Mustard]

19. And the right to own any guns!

That's what will hurt.

[Hoyt]

11. He's going to wish he'd taken a deal. Transporting gunz to insurrection ain't cool.

[Scottie Mom]

12. Good and I hope he gets sentence he truly deserves!

What an asshole.

[Beastly Boy]

14. I am sure there were handcuffs involved in this so there is no more excuse to deny it happened.

So what kind of DOJ bashing are we going to see next?

[Lucky Luciano]

49. He's still a small fry.

They should all get this punishment. Let’s see some higher ups - especially That Fucking Guy - get some real comeuppance.

[Beastly Boy]

50. These "small fries" are the enablers and the enforcers of the "big fries",

however you choose to define each category.

And I am not clear what "still" means. Surely it doesn't mean that their punishment is not a significant event and a victory for justice, does it? And it doesn't mean that their punishment prevents justice being served to anyone else, does it?

A week ago, the sentiment of "let's see some higher ups get some real comeuppance" applied to these people. It doesn't anymore. This is what I call progress, and it points in one clear direction.

[Beetwasher.]

51. Yup, We'll Said

[Lucky Luciano]

52. If That Fuckin Guy gets in trouble I'll owe you a coke.

Glad this worthless shitstain is going to rot for a while as opposed to the many who got off very light…like the blond real estate agent…she should have also gotten 20+ years. No mercy.

[COL Mustard]

15. Good.

Now send him to prison for a long, long time.

[JudyM]

21. Great that these cases are in DC venue.

[oswaldactedalone]

22. LOL

Fuck that guy. Enjoy prison, asswipe.

[secondwind]

23. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the obstruction count alone.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

24. This asshole being convicted should be a warning to the other defendants/assholes/terroriist

Link to tweet

A little more than a year after a group of pro-Trump rioters overwhelmed police, stormed the U.S. Capitol, and temporarily halted the country's peaceful transfer of power, a jury has unanimously returned a verdict in the first trial stemming from the events on Jan. 6, 2021:

Guilty on all counts.

The defendant, 49-year-old Guy Wesley Reffitt of Texas, was found guilty of these five criminal charges: Transporting a Firearm in Furtherance of a Civil Disorder; Obstruction of an Official Proceeding; Entering or Remaining in a Restricted Area or Grounds with a Firearm; Obstructing Officers During a Civil Disorder; and Obstruction of Justice—Hindering Communication Through Force or Threat of Physical Force.

It took two days to seat a jury made up of Washington, D.C. residents. Many potential jurors said they lived or worked near the Capitol building - the scene of multiple crimes in this case - or even knew Capitol Police officers who were injured that day, which complicated jury selection. Judge Dabney Friedrich sought jurors who could keep an "open mind," despite anything they had heard before. The jury ultimately included employees of NASA and the Department of Defense, as well as a public school maintenance supervisor.

[sinkingfeeling]

25. Excellent. Now give him the max sentence.

[cab67]

28. I haven't followed this very closely -

what, out of curiosity, was his defense?

[old guy]

29. Great news.

The sentence will really tell the story. I'm not going to get too excited until I see that part.

[Wicked Blue]

31. Let me add something about sentencing

It is possible, in my opinion, that he could get a shorter sentence in exchange for agreeing to testify against others, especially those higher up. But we shall see.

[oldsoftie]

40. THAT would be nice.

[yonder]

30. I'm encouraged this jury was able to come to a decision

with no trumpoids gumming up the works (or so it would seem). Let's hope this trend continues with subsequent J6 juries.

[flying_wahini]

32. I hope I am wrong but feel like he is going to get off lightly.

[ShazzieB]

41. I don't think so.

I really don't. Remember, this guy is the first one of the rioters to go to trial. A lot of the ones who got slaps on the wrist probably had plea deals, where they pleaded guilty in exchange for a (relatively) lighter sentence.

Courts tend to like people who plead guilty and waive their right to a trial. Admitting wrongdoing and agreeing to face the music is looked on a lot more favorably than denying you did anything wrong in the face of mountains of evidence, as was the case here. If you read the NPR article linked in reply #24 (which I remmend, as it's very interesting), this dude flatly denied having a gun at the Capitol despite video showing him wearing a holster with a "shiny object" in it, AND he threatened to kill his son and daughter if they ratted him out (hence the obstruction of justice charges). And on and on. His defense was practically nonexistent and basically consisted of "I didn't do it!" (Again, this is all in the article.)

In addition to all of this, as the first Capitol insurectionist to go to trial, I think the judge is going to want to make an example of this dude, to send a clear message to others who, like him, are deluded enough to think going to trial is a good idea. Will he get the maximum sentence? I doubt it. But I think he'll get put away for a nice long time, the obstruction charges alone. Nobody else (so far) has been convicted of threatening to kill potential witnesses.

[L. Coyote]

33. Sums it up well, good analysis:

Link to tweet

[Emile]

34. TFG next?

[monkeyman1]

39. is he the one that was going to shoot the kid's if the squealed on him ???

[ShazzieB]

42. Yes, that's what the obstruction charges were for.

Last edited Tue Mar 8, 2022, 04:56 PM - Edit history (1)

[monkeyman1]

45. thank's , hard to keep up with all this shit !

[Cha]

35. Well That's Something and I'm

So Grateful!

💙💛

[Ms. Toad]

36. Maximum sentence is 20 years.

Although the judge could choose to run them consecutively, rather than concurrently (as is the norm)

[LudwigPastorius]

38. Please, none of this "to be served concurrently" bullshit.

Any motherfucker who threatens to kill his kids needs to be locked up until he reaches room temperature.

[AverageOldGuy]

44. Max sentence for all charges is . . .

. . . 20 years and let's hope he gets every one of them.

[The Grand Illuminist]

46. If the trend continues...

3 years is my prediction.

[Hekate]

47. KnR