Capitol rioter’s son says Trump should also be in prison

The son of one of the defendants sentenced in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot said in an interview on Tuesday that he believed former President Trump should also be in prison for his role in the attack.

Jackson Reffitt, whose father, Guy Reffitt, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Monday after his son tipped off federal investigators for his role in the Capitol riot, was asked on CNN’s “New Day” about his thoughts after the network earlier played a clip of his sister saying that Trump “deserves life in prison if my father’s in prison for this long.”

“Absolutely. When she said that, I was flabbergasted. Not only was I so impressed with her, but she was so right. I mean, my dad was used as a puppet and thousands of families have been, and whether you deny or agree with that … it’s facts at this point,” he said.

“It is disgusting to see that someone with practically money and social power can just get away with manipulating thousands of people just for whatever reason and have no outcome.”

Guy Reffitt was sentenced to seven years and three months, the longest sentence given to someone convicted in connection to the riot, after he was convicted earlier this year of obstructing the 2020 presidential election certification conducted by Congress and threatening his children against reporting him to authorities, among other charges. 

He was a member of the Texas Three Percenters militia group and did not enter the Capitol on the day of the attack, but prosecutors said that he intended to target Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and was wearing body armor and carrying a Smith & Wesson pistol when he was on the Capitol grounds, according to The Associated Press.

Jackson Reffitt said on Tuesday he did not regret turning his father in to federal authorities.

“Absolutely not,” Jackson Reffitt answered when asked if he had second thoughts about his decision. 

“He is his own person and he has made his own choices, but he’s also been pretty much manipulated into making those choices, and it pains me that he is still responsible for his actions.”