A Capitol Rioter’s Son Is Terrified About His Father’s Release

Almost four years from today His father has been taken into custody For his part January 6 Capitol riotsJackson Rafit watched in complete shock as President Donald Trump signed an executive order Pardons and commuted sentences For his father and about 1,500 other rebels.

Refit has spent most of the past four years in hiding, moving out every few months. He was the person who The FBI has been notified About his father’s involvement in the mutiny. Jackson’s father, Guy Refitt, was a member of the Texas Three Percent group when he attacked the Capitol wearing body armor and carrying a pistol and zip ties. He was caught on camera urging other rioters to storm the Capitol building and telling members of his militia group that he wanted to drag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the building by her ankles, “hitting her head every step of the way down.”

“Trump himself granted a presidential pardon to free him. That validation is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that he’ll never get again,” Refitt told Wired “I can’t imagine what he would be willing to do now. It could be a whole hell of a lot worse.”

Refitt is “terrified” of what is going to happen next and arms herself with a handgun and a rifle to protect herself and her boyfriend. Over the past few years, she has been targeted, harassed and threatened online.

Since Trump has pardoned everyone, the threats are intensifying.

“[In the last 24 hours] It’s worse than ever,” Refit told Wired. “I think it’s because, again, the legitimacy that Trump is bringing is just making people that much more emboldened to say some vile, hateful things.”

Refitt isn’t the only family member of the inmate released Jan. 6 who worries about the consequences of Trump’s blanket pardon. Tasha Adams, the ex-wife of Oath Keeper leader Stuart Rhodes, who was sentenced by Trump to 22 years for treasonous conspiracy, is also worried about what could happen. “Stuart is out of prison now and, frankly, I could really use a run fund, if it comes,” 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 became the largest in Justice Department history and left many of the country’s right-wing militia groups on the brink of collapse. But with a single stroke of the pen Monday night, Trump revived the militia movement, freed its most prominent figures, including Rhodes and Proud boy leader Enrique Tario.

“The groups that were decimated after J6 got stronger, especially since many of them were given reduced sentences or outright pardons,” said Luke Baumgartner, a research fellow at George Washington University. Program on extremism. “I wouldn’t be shocked if Oath Keepers start showing up more, and the Pride 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 catch up on and they probably feel vindicated.”

Got a tip?

Are you a family member of a January 6 prisoner who is being released? We would love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, contact David Gilbert david.gilbert@wired.com or safely on the signal of DavidGilbert.01

Guy Refitt was the first rioter to go on trial for his actions on January 6 and initially received a sentence of seven years and three months, which was reduced to seven months after a Supreme Court ruling in December that dismissed obstruction charges. against him

“I am a very strong patriot, with great support from the Patriot Warriors, as we navigate troubled waters,” Refitt wrote to an acquaintance from jail in a text message submitted by the prosecution in his December representation.