Almost four years since then his father was taken into custody for his part in January 6 riots in the CapitolJackson Reffitt was completely shocked as President Donald Trump signed an executive order that sentences were pardoned and commuted for his father and about 1,500 other insurrectionists.
Reffitt spent most of the last four years in hiding, constantly moving every few months. He is the person tipped off the FBI about his father's involvement in the insurrection. Jackson's father, Guy Reffitt, was a member of the Texas Three Percenter group when he stormed the Capitol wearing body armor and carrying a pistol and a zip tie. He was caught on camera urging other rioters to attack the Capitol building and telling members of his militia group that he intended to drag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the building by her ankles, “with her head hits every step down.”
“Trump himself gave him a presidential pardon to set him free. That validation was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience that he'll never get again,” Reffitt tells WIRED. “I can't imagine what what he would be willing to do now. It could be worse.”
Reffitt was “terrified” about what would happen next, and armed himself with a handgun and a rifle to protect himself and his girlfriend. Over the past few years, she has been targeted, harassed and threatened online.
Since Trump has pardoned everyone, the threats become more intense.
“[In the last 24 hours] it's worse than ever,” Refitt told WIRED. “I think it's because, again, the validation that Trump brings makes people more emboldened to say some disgusting, disgusting shit .”
Reffitt isn't the only family member of an inmate released Jan. 6 worried about fallout from Trump's blanket pardons. Tasha Adams, the ex-wife of Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes who had her 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy commuted by Trump, is also worried about what could happen. “Stewart is out of prison and, frankly, I could really use a little run fund, just in case,” Adams wrote on her GoFundMe page on Tuesday, hours after her ex-husband was released from prison.
The investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol has become the largest in the history of the Justice Department, and has left many of the country's far-right militia groups devastated. But with a stroke of the pen on Monday night, Trump reinvigorated the militia movement, freeing its most prominent people, including Rhodes and Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio.
“One of the things that worries me the most is the risk of the groups that were destroyed after J6 coming back stronger, especially since many of them have had sentences reduced or outright pardoned,” said Luke Baumgartner, a research fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism. “I wouldn't be surprised if the Oath Keepers start making more appearances, and to see the Proud Boys step up their culture war tactics, especially against the LGBTQ community, as we've seen before. Their leaders are free, they have a lot to achieve, and they probably feel a sense of righteousness.”
Any Tips?
Are you a family member of a January 6 prisoner who was released? We want to hear from you. With a non-working phone or computer, contact David Gilbert at david.gilbert@wired.com or safe on Signal at DavidGilbert.01
Guy Reffitt was the first rioter to be tried for his actions on January 6 and initially received a sentence of seven years and three months, which was reduced by seven months in December after a Supreme Court ruling led to the dismissal of an obstruction charge against him.
“I am a very strong Patriot, with amazing support from the Patriot Warriors, as we navigate troubled waters,” Reffitt wrote to an acquaintance from jail in a text message submitted by the prosecution at his re-sentencing. in December.
