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re: CAPITOL Riot-TRUMP Likely Committed Felony-FED Judge Rules-DoJ Must Act
Capitol Riots: Guy Reffitt Accused of Being 'Tip of Spear' in 6 January Mob
The first defendant to stand trial over the Capitol riots said that he would drag lawmakers "kicking and screaming" from the building, prosecutors say.
Oath Keepers Leader Charged With Seditious Conspiracy
BBC News 4 MAR 2022
Court documents say Guy Reffitt was seen on video on the west front of the US Capitol on 6 January
Guy Reffitt, 49, is accused of carrying a handgun on to the Capitol grounds, obstruction of an official proceeding and obstruction of justice among other charges.
Opening remarks for his criminal trial began on Wednesday.
The Texas man has pleaded not guilty to the five charges against him.
On 6 January, 2021, a mob of pro-Donald Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol as lawmakers gathered to certify Joe Biden's presidential election win. Prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler described it in opening remarks for Mr Reffitt's trial as "worst assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812", a date when British forces set fire to the White House.
He is accused of driving from Texas to Washington.
The prosecutor described Mr Reffitt as a "leader", saying he was "the tip of this mob's spear" that day.
He said that Mr Reffitt, who federal prosecutors accuse of being part of the Three Percenters militia group, had led rioters up the Capitol's stairs to storm the building.
The prosecutor said the Texas man, a drilling rig worker, had also texted a friend about plans to drag Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers from the Capitol that day.
William Welch, the lawyer representing Mr Reffitt, gave a short opening statement, where he noted his client "does brag, he exaggerates and he rants" but that the "trial will be about fact versus hype". He also said Mr Reffitt had never entered the building.
More than 750 people have been arrested since the Capitol attack last year. Most have been charged with misdemeanours, but at least 40 have received prison sentences.
More than 200 people have pleaded guilty to various charges. Mr Reffitt, who was arrested on 19 January, 2021, is the first person facing criminal charges to stand trial. The trial is expected to be watched as a test case for future prosecutions.
Mr Reffitt's son and daughter are both expected to testify against him. According to a justice department affidavit, Mr Reffitt is accused of threatening his children if they turned him in to authorities for his alleged role in the Capitol riots.
Earlier this week, nine men and seven women were selected to serve on the jury, four as alternates.
Separately on Wednesday, Joshua James, a man with alleged ties to the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers, pleaded guilty in federal court as part of a plea agreement to a seditious conspiracy charge related to the Capitol riots.
A sedition charge is defined as attempting "to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States".
The leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, and 11 others including James were charged in January with the crime over last year's attack.
The Department of Justice accuses Mr Rhodes of working with other Oath Keepers - a loosely knit militia that believes the US government has been corrupted by elites - to transport weapons and ammunition to Washington DC in their effort to block Mr Biden's presidency. Mr Rhodes has pleaded not guilty.
Oath Keepers Leader Charged With Seditious Conspiracy
The leader of far-right militia group the Oath Keepers has been charged with seditious conspiracy over last year's attack on the US Capitol.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is a former US paratrooper
Stewart Rhodes was among 11 people to be charged with the crime on Thursday. He was arrested at his home in Texas, according to his lawyer.
This is first time the sedition charge has been applied over the deadly riot.
Trump supporters stormed Congress in January 2021 as it was meeting to certify Joe Biden's victory.
More than 725 people have been arrested for the attack, which shocked the world.
Mr Rhodes, a 56-year-old former US paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer, is accused of conspiring with others to "oppose by force the execution of the laws governing the transfer of presidential power".
The sedition charge is defined as attempting "to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States".
The Department of Justice accuses Mr Rhodes of working with other Oath Keepers - a loosely-knit militia that believes the US government has been corrupted by elites - to transport weapons and ammunition to Washington DC in their effort to block Mr Biden's presidency.
Prosecutors say that starting in late December 2020, Mr Rhodes used encrypted communications to plan the attack on Congress, although he himself is never said to have entered building.
He is accused of creating several "quick reaction force" teams, which "planned to use the firearms in support of their plot to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power".
The charges allege that Mr Rhodes split members into different "stacks," who went into the Capitol heavily clad in riot and tactical gear.
The first "stack" split up after entering the building and went separately to the House and Senate chambers, while the second "stack" confronted officers in the Capitol Rotunda, according to prosecutors.
Mr Rhodes has said in previous interviews with conservative groups that the members who entered the Capitol had "gone off mission" and were not acting on his orders.
Edward Vallejo, 63, of Phoenix, Arizona, was also arrested on Thursday. The others charged with seditious conspiracy were already facing separate criminal charges in relation to the attack.
Lawyers for several of the accused have argued that they were present at the Capitol to provide security for high-profile conservatives, including Roger Stone - an ally of Mr Trump, whom he pardoned in the final days of his term.
Sedition charges are exceptionally rare in modern US history, and were last applied by federal prosecutors to a Michigan militia in 2010. The group, who were alleged to have plotted an attack on police officers, were acquitted by a judge who ruled that their violent rhetoric did not indicate a "concrete agreement to forcibly oppose the United States government".
Members of the Oath Keepers were seen in groups at the Capitol riot
Separate to the law enforcement operation, an inquiry into the riot is being conducted by a House of Representatives committee.
The committee has issued a subpoena to Mr Rhodes, as well as the ex-leader of the far right Proud Boys.
The letter to Mr Rhodes says: "You repeatedly suggested that the Oath Keepers should, or were prepared to, engage in violence to ensure their preferred election outcome."
It also quotes him telling members of the militia to "stock up on ammo" and gear up for a "full-on war in the streets".
At least a dozen other members of the Oath Keepers are facing charges in relation to the Capitol riot.
A growing number of Republicans has questioned the seriousness of the Capitol riot, given the lack of sedition or treason charges. This may in part be an answer to that argument, reports the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher in Washington.
Alex Friedfeld, a researcher for the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, said the new sedition charges were a "big deal" that marked an "escalation" by the prosecution.
"Up until this point, people have been charged for interrupting a federal process, or for violence that they did outside. This is the first time that they're acknowledging a plot against the government on that day," he said.
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