Reffitt, 49, is the focus of the first full trial stemming from 2021’s Jan. 6 insurrection, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump interfered in the peaceful transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden. Some have reported that Reffitt's case could potentially have ripple effects for the hundreds of other defendants facing similar charges.
Some North Texas Capitol riot defendants had previously pleaded guilty. These include Frisco real estate broker Jenna Ryan, who was released from federal prison camp last month after serving a 60-day sentence.
Last week, Reffitt’s son Jackson, 19, testified against his dad in Washington’s Federal District Court, recalling a chilling exchange between the two following Jan. 6. “He said, ‘If you turn me in, you’re a traitor,’” the younger Reffitt said from the stand. “‘And traitors get shot.’”
A member of the hard-right militia group known as the Texas Three Percenters, Reffitt is facing several charges, including that he brought a handgun to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. One of the five counts is that he allegedly crossed state lines with a Smith & Wesson pistol and an AR-15.
NBC-DFW reported that during the trial, jurors saw a Zoom meeting showing Reffitt speaking with another militia member after the insurrection. That day before the riot started, Reffitt remembered saying that he wouldn’t be done “until we drag them out screaming and kicking. I don't care if [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi's head is hitting every step while I drag her by her ankles. She's coming out."
Reffitt didn't enter the building and "retreated after an officer pepper-sprayed him in the face," according to the article. During the trial, Reffitt’s defense attorney said his client was inclined to exaggerate and that the case against him was based on hype and a “rush to judgment.”
But less than two weeks before the insurrection, Jackson Reffitt had tipped off the FBI about his dad’s increasingly troublesome behavior, according to NBC-DFW. On Christmas Eve, the elder Reffitt had texted his son: “What's about to happen will shock the world.” He also wrote, "We are about to rise up the way the Constitution was written.”"That’s part of a continuing problem where the FBI ... deprioritizes white supremacist and far-right violence as a component of their domestic terrorism program." – Michael German, Brennan Center for Justice fellow
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Jackson Reffitt didn’t hear back from the FBI until Jan. 6, according to that article.
Michael German, a former FBI special agent and a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, said one thing that bothers him is that the son’s initial concerns appear to have been treated lightly. The tip came in well before the Jan. 6 insurrection, but it wasn't until after the riot that the FBI got a warrant and searched Reffitt's home.
German said the FBI would typically take notice of a tip that detailed allegations referencing a group that has committed violence in the past. “If somebody had said, ‘My father is a member of Al Qaeda and is planning this violent attack,’ the FBI wouldn’t hesitate to marshal resources to address it,” he said.
German added that some in the FBI have claimed they had inadequate authority to monitor social media leading up to Jan. 6, claims that he disputes. Regardless, this was a direct tip brought by a human being to the FBI that seems to have been virtually ignored, he said.
“I think that’s part of a continuing problem where the FBI, as a matter of pattern and practice, deprioritizes white supremacist and far-right violence as a component of their domestic terrorism program,” German said.
As of Feb. 6, the Justice Department counted more than 750 arrests across nearly every state. Spokesperson Katie Chaumont said 37 people have been arrested across FBI-Dallas' division, which stretches across much of the state’s top half.
Last month, North Texas' Elmer Stewart Rhodes, who founded the far-right anti-government militia group the Oath Keepers, was denied bail ahead of his trial. Rhodes faces several charges, including one of seditious conspiracy.
