Reffitt said that some inflammatory statements he made from jail were intended to raise money for his family. “I’ll be lucky with my mouth if I get into a church group after this. “I don’t want to have anything to do with any groups, militia like, any kind of stupid shit like that,” the defendant added. “I want to apologize to my family, to the court, to legislators and their staff - everyone who was affected by my actions.” I was a little too stupid and I was not thinking clearly,” Reffitt said. “I did want to definitely make an apology, multiple apologies and accept my responsibility. While the former oil field worker sought to be conciliatory, his remarks were disjointed and peppered with at least nine profanities. In retrospect, it was unclear whether Reffitt’s decision to address the court was a wise one. Reffitt was pelted with less-lethal weapons and tear gas as he tried to advance up the steps, waving the crowd forward, but he never entered the building himself.Īfter initially passing up his chance to address the court during a sentencing hearing that spanned six hours, Reffitt came to the lectern on Monday afternoon, seeking to rebut Friedrich’s stated concern that while he was in jail over the past year and a half he was still spouting rhetoric about a tyrannical government. The jury found that he had the pistol on his hip as he engaged in a tense standoff with police at the West Front of the Capitol.
Sentence with retrospect trial#
Not only are they not patriots, they are a direct threat to our democracy and will be punished as such.”Įither side could appeal the sentence that was handed down on Monday.Įvidence and testimony at the trial for Reffitt earlier this year showed that the member of the Texas Three Percenters militia drove to Washington with an acquaintance the day before the riot, bringing two AR-15 rifles and a pistol along with him. … The officers at the Capitol were patriots. “What he and others who attacked the Capitol on Jan. These are just-flat - his claims are wrong,” she said. … In a democracy the answer to those frustrations is not rebellion, and it’s really disturbing that he repeatedly persists with these views that are way outside the mainstream. “These are frightening claims that border on delusional. 6 events themselves,” she said.įriedrich made clear, though, that she considered his plans dangerous, and she rejected as “absurd” his rationale for them as a means of throwing off government oppression akin to that facing American colonists in the 18th century. “I do think there are in many respects analogous cases that have been sentenced … in this district related to the Jan.
6 cases already sentenced than unlike them. Ultimately, Friedrich found that Reffitt’s case was more like the more serious Jan. “The government is asking for a sentence that is three times as long as any other defendant and the defendant did not assault an officer.” 6 cases thus far were a little more than five years while prosecutors asked for a 15-year sentence against Reffitt. “There are a lot of cases where defendants possessed weapons or committed very violent assaults,” Friedrich noted, highlighting that the most severe sentences handed down in Jan. 6 defendant by classifying his actions as domestic terrorism, but the judge concluded that it was not appropriate to apply the more severe sentencing guidelines permitted under federal law in terrorism-related cases.įriedrich, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said that applying the sentencing enhancement to Reffitt would create an “unwarranted sentencing disparity” with other cases involving similar threats or conduct related to the Capitol riot.
It was federal prosecutors’ first request to draw tougher punishment for a Jan.
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