Jackson Reffitt, who reported his father Guy Reffitt to the FBI after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, told CNN's Erin Burnett. interview On Monday night, he said he is “afraid” of what his father will do to him following President Donald Trump's J6 pardon.
In fact, Reffitt says he was so frightened that he got a gun himself.
“I don't feel safe around him. I don't feel safe around people he knows. I don't feel safe around people my mother knows.”
Burnett described the riots with the left's favorite word, “riots,” and then asked Jackson Reffitt about his reaction to President Trump's pardons and commutations, including perhaps his father's.
“I’m honestly surprised I made it this far,” he told Barnett. “I mean, I'm scared. I don't know what to do.”
“I took all the precautions I could these days. I picked up my gun, moved, left a situation I thought was dangerous, and stayed where I thought my father was.” Maybe you can find me — or [where] Others' were able to find him too.
“People will feel validated by these acts and by this pardon,” he added. “I'm so paranoid that I don't know what's going to happen. I've been waiting all day.” [for] phone call from [Department of Justice] To understand that and know what to do next, because right now we can't do that. ”
Reffitt also told Barnett, “I don't even know what my dad was thinking. I mean, I talked to him before, but that's what I thought.” [had] It got better, but it didn't actually get better. My father is still involved in these paramilitary groups and still speaks of … martyr status. Nothing has changed for him. He's even more energetic than I've ever seen him. My mother too. My sisters are waiting outside the prison… now. And…I feel for them, I know who they are, I love them, but I can't feel safe. …And what will happen once they are released? I mean, who knows? …My father once called me a traitor and said, “Traitors get shot.” ”
Barnett suggested to Reffitt that Jan. 6 “broke a family apart.” Reffitt agreed.
“My father's actions stem from the Trump era. [my dad thinking] What he was doing was right, it just got destroyed. [my family]“I made the very, very bad decision to tell the authorities what he was doing, and I still feel horrible every day. My sisters are there now.'' I'm here to support him. I understand. [from a place] of love for it. I want to be there for them, but I can't. …It's difficult. ”
Barnett then asked Reffitt if he still loved his father, to which he answered in the affirmative.
“Of course,” Mr. Reffitt said. “I love him. I love him. I don't feel safe around him. I don't feel safe around people he knows. I don't feel safe around people my mother knows. I can't. My mother used my name to sit in front of a crowd of people in a room of far-right Trump supporters every time she brought up my name and what I had done. It's just a roar…a rage that says, “What the hell did that kid do?” ……terrible. ”
You can watch the interview video here.
what else?
Blaze News reported that Guy Reffitt is the first defendant on January 6 to go on trial in March 2022. A Washington, D.C., jury found him guilty on all five charges, including transporting a firearm in furtherance of a civil war, obstruction of justice, and interfering with public transportation communications. Using force or threat of force, obstructing a police officer during a civil disturbance, entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds.
However, U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich reduced Mr. Reffitt's prison sentence from the original 87 months to 80 months. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered a new sentence based on the Supreme Court's decision. Fisher v. United StatesThis significantly limits the use of 18 U.S.C. 1512(c)(2), a 20-year felony for obstruction of an official proceeding, in the January 6 prosecution.
Newsweek said: Jackson Reffitt, a key witness in the government's case against his father, first reported Guy Reffitt's political views to the FBI in December 2020, just days before the Capitol riot.
The magazine reported that Jackson Reffitt forwarded text messages from his father to the FBI after Guy Reffitt attended Trump's rally in Washington, D.C., on January 6. Prosecutors said they read some of those messages and played audio of the family conversations in court as part of the case. to Mr. Reffitt, according to Newsweek.
Blaze News investigative reporter Steve Baker also shares his opinion.
Steve Baker covered Jan. 6 at the Capitol as an independent journalist and began writing investigative reporting on that day for Blaze News in fall 2023. Baker was arrested last year and charged with a misdemeanor in November after pleading guilty to four charges “to avoid the embarrassment of a trial,” even though he only recorded the video while walking inside the Capitol. Ta.
Baker was scheduled to be sentenced in March, but the Justice Department has now filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him. The application came after President Donald Trump granted promised pardons to about 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants on Monday night.
Baker also commented on Jackson Reffitt's CNN interview with Blaze News.
I talked about it last night, Blaze TVmany families were torn apart because of January 6th. Divorce, children being disowned by their parents, and this tragedy for the Reffitt family. Many J6 defendants were submitted not only by family members, but also by church members, neighbors, co-workers, and classmates. While this incident may have already strained the relationship between father and son, it turns out that the common denominator among those who “dropped a penny” on the family is their political differences. The hatred towards Trump is especially evident among those who call the FBI.
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