The children of Jan 6. Capitol rioter Guy Reffitt said that former president Donald Trump deserves jail time after their father was convicted of acts of domestic terrorism.
Reffitt's two daughters appeared outside the courthouse with their mother on Monday after a federal judge ruled that Reffitt would receive seven years behind bars, the longest sentence given to a Capitol rioter so far.
"To mark my dad as this horrible person, and then having him prosecuted like this, when somebody is maybe even able to get elected again? Doesn't seem right to me," Sarah Reffitt told reporters.
"Trump deserves life in prison if my father is in prison for this long," her sister Peyton Reffitt added.
FLASH:
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) August 1, 2022
Minutes after Guy Reffitt was sentenced to 7 years in Capitol riot case... his daughter calls for "life in prison" for Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/01pw2uBsP8
During the trial, the prosecution told the judge that in addition to bringing a weapon to the Capitol, Reffitt had told protests that he planned to drag Pelosi out of the Capitol by her ankles.
Reffitt is the first rioter to be convicted at trial for his part in the insurrection, which explains why his sentence is longer than other Jan. 6 rioters who accepted a plea deal when they were first accused. Now, over 884 people have been charged with efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The conviction has torn apart Reffitt's family.
After Jan. 6, Reffitt was reported to the FBI by his own teenage son, 18-year-old Jackson Reffitt who witnessed his father's political radicalization after subscribing to the far-right ideology of the Three Percenters, a group that claims only 3% of American colonists fought against the British during the American Revolution.
When Guy Reffitt returned home to Texas after the insurrection, he pressured his children to stay quiet about his involvement. Reffitt told his children "If you turn me in, you're a traitor, and you know what happens to traitors…Traitors get shot," according to an affidavit. Despite the threats, Jackson Reffitt contacted the authorities.
Appearing on CNN's "New Day," Jackson Reffitt said that while he agrees that his father should "absolutely" have to serve time in jail, he thinks Trump is partially to blame for his father's actions.
"My dad was used as a puppet, and thousands of families have been. Whether you agree with that, it's a fact at this point," he said. "It is disgusting to see that someone with practically money and social power can just get away with manipulating thousands of people just for whatever reason and have no outcome."
The sentiment articulated by Reffitt's children reflect the efforts of the Jan. 6 committee to demonstrate Trump's culpability in directly inciting the insurrection.
While no president has been prosecuted for a crime that took place while they were in office, some legal experts speculate that Trump could be tried in court for attempting to obstruct a Congressional proceeding.
