Prosecutors have taken a revealing look at their strategy for the first trial resulting from the Capitol attack, and have unveiled an inventory of the extensive evidence they plan to introduce, including surveillance videos, police communications, text messages, geolocation data and testimonials from a Secret Service agent and the suspect’s own children.
The suspect in the trial, which begins Feb. 28, is Guy Wesley Reffitt, an oil industry worker who, according to prosecutors, was a member of the Texas Three Percenters, a far-right group associated with the gun rights movement. Mr. Reffitt is accused of storming the Capitol with a gun around his waist. The charges against him include interfering with law enforcement during a civil disturbance and obstructing Congress’s duty to certify the results of the 2020 election.
The trial — the earliest of several linked to the January 6, 2021 events slated for this year — will be a major turning point in the Justice Department’s extensive investigation into the Capitol attack. About 200 people have so far pleaded guilty to charges related to the violent attack that disrupted the peaceful transfer of power. Of these, nearly 90 have already been convicted.
The Reffitt trial, which will take place in the Federal District Court in Washington, is expected to be the first time prosecutors will provide public evidence of the charges they have leveled against dozens of other similar defendants. Under what will surely be a massive scrutiny, prosecutors will have to show that law enforcement officers were “disadvantageously affected” by the riots and that Mr. Reffitt was part of a pro-Trump mob that illegally halted Congress’ work.
To that end, prosecutors have gathered an extensive array of witnesses and evidence, according to the list they submitted Monday night. While much of the information they planned to introduce had been revealed in previous court documents and hearings, some of it was new, suggesting they may have similarly undisclosed evidence waiting in the wings for future trials.
Mr. Reffitt’s attorney, William L. Welch III, did not respond to a request for comment on the government’s evidence, but his client has openly opposed allegations that he participated in something inappropriate at the Capitol on Jan. 6. In a letter received by ProPublica last spring, Mr. Reffitt wrote of the attack: “There was no uprising, no conspiracy, no sinister plan and no reason to think otherwise.”
Although the trial of Mr. Reffitt will certainly draw attention because it is the first, other larger and more complicated studies are tentatively scheduled for later in the year. Four leaders of the far-right nationalist group The Proud Boys will face trial in Washington in May. And in July, prosecutors plan to try 11 members of the Oath Keepers militia — including leader Stewart Rhodes — on charges of seditious conspiracy.
The Reffitt trial is likely to begin with an overview of the tumult on Jan. 6, presented by an officer who worked that day at the U.S. Capitol Police command center, where he oversaw a video surveillance system and radio and telephone communications, prosecutors said. . The officer will “explain the progress of the riot” through a compilation of surveillance video from both inside and outside the building, and will show the jury a separate video of former Vice President Mike Pence’s motorcade leaving at 1:57 am. eastern plaza of the Capitol. p.m
Three other Capitol officers are scheduled to testify about their direct interactions with Mr. Reffitt and other mob members, prosecutors said. These officers are expected to describe their experiences trying to control the mob by firing pepperballs and other projectiles and to report failing to subdue Mr Reffitt and his fellow rioters with chemical spray .
Much of the government’s evidence came from search warrants executed on Mr. Reffitt. For example, prosecutors say they have geolocation data from an app on Mr Reffitt’s iPhone that pinpoints his precise movements before, during and after the attack. They also say they extracted several strings of messages from the phone that he sent and received by text message and via the Telegram chat app.
Prosecutors are in possession of a 31-minute video that Mr Reffitt apparently captured with a panoramic camera during the riots. They also say they have another video, nearly two hours long, entitled “Texas State Meeting – Zoom,” possibly of an online event hosted by the Texas Three Percenters that Mr. Reffitt attended.
Latest developments
A GOP resolution. The Republican National Committee officially declared the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as “legitimate political discourse,” while censoring Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for participating in the episode’s investigation. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, then spoke out against the resolution.
Among the other witnesses required to testify at the trial are a Secret Service agent and a former counsel to the Senate secretary.
The officer plans to describe “emergency measures” taken on Jan. 6 to protect Mr. Pence and show the jury a video of the former vice president and others rushing down a flight of stairs after rioters enter the building. had penetrated. The Senate aide will explain the certification of the Electoral College vote that was disrupted by the riots, a central part of the prosecution’s case that Mr. Reffitt and others interfered with the work of Congress.
Prosecutors also revealed the existence of a new witness: a member of the Texas Three Percenters who met Mr. Refitt traveled to Washington. The witness, known only as RH for the time being, has been granted immunity from prosecution and will testify about the preparations the two made on their journey, including the firearms and tactical equipment Mr Reffitt brought with him, prosecutors say.
Perhaps the most emotional witnesses to testify at the trial are Mr. Reffitt.
Prosecutors say the son, who was 18 at the time of the attack, will tell the jury that he and his sister, then 16, spoke to their father when he returned from Washington after the riots and that Mr. Reffitt threatened to kill them. shoot as she went to the feds about him. In an earlier court hearing, the daughter testified that Mr Reffitt threatened to shoot a bullet into her cellphone if she posted about him on social media.