Earlier this week, a federal jury in Washington, D.C., took under four hours to convict the first Capitol-riot defendant to go to trial.
Guy Wesley Reffitt was found guilty of obstructing a congressional proceeding, in addition to several other charges, including possession of a dangerous weapon — a semi-automatic handgun — in the course of breaching the Capitol grounds (which is a restricted area under federal law). The evidence against Reffitt, a 41-year-old Texan, was overwhelming. The only real drama in the trial, which lasted just a week, stemmed from the testimony of Reffitt’s 19-year-old son, who sent a tip to the FBI in December 2020 upon becoming alarmed by his ardently pro-Trump father’s belligerence and plans travel to Washington to oppose “tyranny” on January 6, 2021. The FBI, however, took no action against the elder Reffitt until after that day’s Capitol riot, when it began aggressively tracking down those who had participated.
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