It is the longest prison sentence that has been imposed for the storming of the US Capitol: A 49-year-old defendant is sentenced to more than seven years in prison. He is said to have been one of the driving forces on January 6, 2021.
A Texas man has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for his role in the attack on the US Capitol. On Monday (local time) in Washington, a federal court imposed an 87-month prison sentence on 49-year-old Guy Wesley Reffitt for resisting state authority, obstructing justice and other offenses - the highest prison sentence to date in the processing of the Capitol storm on January 6, 2021 .
According to the evidence, Refitt was a member of the Texas Three Percenters militia. Among other things, he sent messages to other members of the group to recruit them for the trip to Washington on January 6, 2021.
The 49-year-old was found guilty in March of bringing a firearm to Washington, assaulting police officers and obstructing an official process. He was also convicted for threatening his son and daughter and warning them not to go to the police. "Traitors will be shot," he said to his 18-year-old son, who testified against his father before the FBI and then in court.
Reffitt was the first defendant to be tried for the violence surrounding the Capitol. Videos show the Texas oil worker confronting police officers on the steps of the US Capitol and goading other attackers. The prosecution had described him during the trial as "the spearhead of this mob". "He lit the match that started the fire."
On January 6, 2021, supporters of the then US President Donald Trump violently stormed the seat of parliament in the capital Washington. Congress met there to certify the victory of Trump's Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the previous presidential election. Five people were killed in the riots, including a police officer. Trump had recently incited his supporters at a rally by claiming that his election victory had been stolen. Since January 6, 2021, more than 850 people have been arrested in connection with the Capitol storm, according to the US Department of Justice.
