In Exclusive Jailhouse Letter, Capitol Riot Defendant Explains Motives, Remains Boastful https://t.co/eLtBxTe1cb
— Jennifer Mercieca (@jenmercieca) May 17, 2021
Jailhouse bards are almost as common as jailhouse lawyers, but this is a somewhat terrifying report on what happens when the GOP is treasonous and the Qrazy is contagious:
In a letter sent from behind bars, a key defendant in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol said he and fellow inmates have bonded in jail, and boasted that those attacking the building could have overthrown the government if they had wanted.
The letter is signed “the 1/6ers” and expresses no remorse for the assault on the Capitol, in which five people died. While no names appeared on it, ProPublica was able to determine, through interviews with his family and a review of his correspondence from jail, that it was penned by Guy Reffitt, a member of the Three Percenter right-wing militant group accused of participating in the riot. The letter said the inmates arrested for their role in the attack regularly recite the Pledge of Allegiance inside the Washington, D.C. jail and sing the national anthem “all in unison, loud and proud most everyday.”
“January 6th was nothing short of a satirical way to overthrow a government,” said the letter, written by hand on yellow lined paper. “If overthrow was the quest, it would have no doubt been overthrown.”…
Reffitt, 48, worked most of his adult life on oil rigs, an occupation that took him and sometimes his family around the world, including three years in Malaysia. But when the coronavirus hit in 2020, work dried up and he intensified his political activity, focusing on the Black Lives Matter movement, which he viewed as destructive.
Reffitt saw his actions on Jan. 6 as a critical step in protecting his wife and kids from what he viewed as a decades-long American slide toward “tyranny,” according to his text messages…
In their most recent filing, prosecutors added new evidence to their case against Guy Reffitt. They obtained a recording of a Jan. 10 Zoom meeting involving Reffitt and two other Three Percenters. In it, Reffitt allegedly said he helped lead the charge on the Capitol with a .40-caliber pistol at his side, at one point telling a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was firing nonlethal rounds at him, “Sorry, darling. You better get a bigger damn gun.”
Reffitt went on to describe how the group might be able to disable a social media company’s servers by using a sniper rifle to disable the generators at a nearby Texas facility. According to court records, he said attacking the servers would “make them feel it back” in Washington, D.C. He added: “Then they won’t know we’re coming next time.”
In court filings, his lawyer said that prosecutors have “relied on bragging” and that none of the government’s video or photographs from the Capitol show Reffitt to be armed. Reffitt has not been charged with a gun crime…
After then-President Donald Trump lost his bid for reelection, Guy Reffitt began to sequester himself in the front room of his suburban brick home, glued to Newsmax as it reported theories of how the vote was rigged.
On Dec. 19, Reffitt found a new obsession, his family said, when Trump tweeted: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”
From then on, Reffitt’s texts bounced between plans for shopping and cooking prime rib for Christmas and talk of going to D.C. to “shock the world.”
“It’s the government that is going to be destroyed in this fight,” Reffitt texted his family on Dec. 21. “Congress has made fatal mistakes this time.”…
If his family is to be believed, Reffitt was a major drama queen. That doesn’t make him, or his similarly inclined fellows, any less dangerous. Consider John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators, who were laughably inept and yet still changed the course of our history — much for the worse.
germy
If the former guy is ever taken into custody, people like Reffitt (the ones not already locked up) will go apeshit.
mrmoshpotato
I’m not even gonna try to understand this.
Just punt all these shits into the Sun already.
Dorothy A. Winsor
What this clown describes sound like a gang to me.
Kay
Then his son turned him in and left home.
Reading the son’s account I think Reffit would have met the requirements for a “red flag” law action.
For me, if my heavily armed Right wing nut relative started ranting about doing “something big” I think it’s completely reasonable to think a mass murder is possible. I mean, we can read his manifesto later or take the guns- your choice.
schrodingers_cat
They must be punished. Lack of consequence will embolden them. Because the BJP was not punished and instead was rewarded after they demolished the Babri Masjid 1992, India is paying the price now.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
I had a professor in nursing school, a psych nurse no less (& black to boot; I think she was from Appalachia originally) actually take the time during a lecture to talk about how wrong “red flag” laws are, I shit you not
scav
That guy really can’t process that not only did his FG lose and fail (etc), he and his fellow ‘satirists’ similarly lost and failed, big time, on the big screen, in front of all.
dr. bloor
Quite a letter. At least we know where John Blutarsky is now.
Wapiti
@mrmoshpotato: I think they’re trying to say that they aren’t fuck-ups who fucked up and believed TFG, then got theirselves busted.
BruceFromOhio
Yes, you did forget “God Bless America,” and this version of “the American spirit” seems better suited to a Ku Klux Klan robe. Rot in jail, please.
What irritates the ever living fuck out of me is that these two-bit ratfuck soulless racists will bring the end of what they claim to hold dear, to the ruin of all. Not the Chinese army, not the Russian nuclear weapons, not the COVID virus, but stupid knuckle-dragging racists.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Well, every state has some variety and combination of “pink slipping” or “temporary hold” so it’s really a choice for these people- they can come in under the narrow red flag laws or they can come in under the much more restrictive holds, but no one has to put up with imminent, credible threats of mass murder.
He thought his father was going to kill a lot of people, and soon. Given what his father said and how he behaved this was a rational fear. It’s definitely a balancing of rights, a mental health hold suspends almost all rights pending hearing, no one ever pretends it doesn’t. It’s treated like a profound infringement on rights, because that’s what it is. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done. It is done, and often.
opiejeanne
Satirical way to overthrow the government, he says. Five people died, satirically?
I think this guy needs a dictionary with a concise definition of satire, plus a clueX4 to the head. There is no way the actions of 1/6 could have overthrown the government, not with so few co-conspirators, unless TFG had managed to suddenly become competent.
BruceFromOhio
@germy:
I welcome this. Gotta know where the dirt is to get it cleaned up. We’re seeing it now in Kay’s school board, GA, FL, TX, AZ legislatures, that ridiculous AZ “election audit” : can’t fight what you can’t see.
mrmoshpotato
@Wapiti: Whatever. Fuck them all. Destination Sun but also (too) destination F#%Ked.
different-church-lady
Well, ain’t that how prison gangs work, after all?
different-church-lady
@mrmoshpotato:
Rand Careaga
@different-church-lady: Chain gangs too.
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
@opiejeanne:
I call Popehat’s rule of goats your honor.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
You can say to her “yes, this is definitely an infringement on rights”, because it is. These people seem to come to a screeching halt at the most obvious things that everyone else already considered and then stop thinking at all.
Her objection doesn’t put it away. She’s not done yet. Who are the sets of people with rights and how can we balance all of them. This idea these people have that yelling “my rights!” is some kind of final word just isn’t true. The prospective shooters rights give way to the public’s right to stay alive. We’re definitely picking and choosing here, no one pretends we aren’t. All right out in the open.
opiejeanne
@Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: Had to look that up because I had forgotten that gem. Appropriate.
Tony Jay
“Nuh-uh. Nuthin’ treasonous or criminal about us. We totally could have overthrown the Government if we wanted to, ‘cos we’re so awesome and American and whatnot, but as it’s still there, we obviously didn’t. D’uh! You can say “Thank You” any time you like, Snowflake.”
“That’s satire, Libtard. Look it up!”
Either lock this prick away for the good of the gene pool or make him a three-term State Congressman for somewhere Red and Poor. There is no middle ground.
Mike G
When are the organizers and inciters getting charged?
Having brownshirt thugs like this assclown locked up is good for the country, but the string-pullers are going to try again if they’re not taken down hard.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
Oh you don’t have to convince me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing at the time
mrmoshpotato
@different-church-lady: I like your plan.
Amir Khalid
He spent three years in Malaysia? Hmm. I don’t think I ever met the guy.
mrmoshpotato
@opiejeanne: I didn’t know about Popehat’s Rule of goats. Now I do.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
What kind of adult writes like that? And the rest of it, that’s how upset teens talk. These guys really are frozen at age 14.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Good Lord, yes, Booth even stopped to preen on a stage after shooting Lincoln.
BruceFromOhio
If there’s a silver-lining to this, it looks like Reffitt’s son is going to be okay.
Old School
@mrmoshpotato:
Neither did I. Might as well put it in the comments for everyone else:
burnspbesq
If he’s convicted, that letter will be Exhibit A to the government’s sentencing memorandum, and probably guarantees that he will do the max. And the Bureau of Prisons will be fully justified in assigning him to a Level 5 (maximum security) facility.
I imagine his lawyers are having a f***ing stroke.
J R in WV
For a successful coup, you need all the brass at all the cop shops, along with all the front line storm-troopers, as well as all the National Guard command and their front line troopers, plus the USAF, the Army, and the Marines. No way TFG ever gets that level of support then, even more impossible today.
Benw
They like their army cosplay so much, I think he meant sartorial way to overthrow a govt.
Danielx
Clearly taking a cue from TFG: cannot keep his mouth shut even when it is in his best interest to do so.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I feel like some people are reachable if you can get them to the next step. They see conspiracies and plots everywhere but it’s really much more boring than that :)
You file an ex parte petition in a probate court in Ohio. Nothing mysterious or deep state about it. 90% of the time you don’t have to file and you can do something less restrictive. The goal is to get consent, not to drag them off in chains.
Danielx
@burnspbesq:
That thought crossed my mind as I was reading his…whatever it is.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Things weren’t going well for this man and his whole family knew it. He was traveling the country using false license plates- several! This was going no where good. And how DID it go for him? He’s in jail. No bigger loss of liberty than that.
His son is the only sensible person in that family and arguably the only one who was actually looking out for the father. It could have been worse- much worse.
cmorenc
Unfortunately, Lincoln’s security detail at Ford’s Theater that night were even more inept than John Wilkes Booth & company. He had but a single security guard who went to a nearby tavern during intermission and may not have been back when Booth approached the Presidential box. Even so, it’s astonishing that in the immediate aftermath of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, when the possibility that a bitter southern sympathizer might attempt to assassinate Lincoln, that he wasn’t constantly being guarded by an entire platoon of Union troops, and not so easily approached, especially without at least a thorough check for weapons.
trollhattan
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
“When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet for life.”
Needs more Natalie Wood.
Urban Suburbanite
Good on the kid for getting out of there. I suspect this guy had a history of explosive behavior way before he was unemployed and hooked on ragebait.
Urban Suburbanite
@Kay:
There’s a pattern with this guy that’s definitely not “satirical”. And I suspect the wife is working real hard to downplay his behavior because she knows that it’s going to be coming up in court. He was stalking activists, “standing guard” with a gun (I will be shocked if his social media accounts aren’t loaded with murder fantasies), and was involved with the Threepers way beyond buying a hoodie or putting a sticker on his truck.
Kay
@Urban Suburbanite:
I have some sympathy for the families. It is really, really hard on them. The exchange where he snapped at her and told her to go to work and mind her own business makes me think she’s afraid of him.
Another Scott
I saw this on the ProPublica page a few days ago. Didn’t bother to click it.
I’m kinda taken with the penmanship. 1) It’s printed. Apparently cursive writing is no longer a thing these days, so I assume the writer is substantially younger than me. 2) The “h”s have a backward tilt (while the “t”s don’t) which makes me think that the writer is left-handed.
Sherlock Holmes would probably figure out that they guy grew up in a particular neighborhood in Indiana, but I’m not that observant…
Cheers,
Scott.
Old School
@Another Scott: Guy Reffitt is 48. In pictures, he’s holding his water bottle in his left hand.
The Pale Scot
God Bless America is not a war cry.
Sounds like the “sea shanty” scene in Taxi, which I cannot find
The Pale Scot
@burnspbesq:
No, save the money and drop him an Alabama farm prison. Ten years of getting up at 5am to pick those butternuts.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Danielx: That’s one of the things that always astounds me about these fools. It’s right there in the Miranda rights speech “You have the right to remain silent, if you give up that right anything you say may be used against you…” Most of these idiots lawyers first advice would be do not talk about the incident. First rule of fight club, don’t talk about fight club. But they HAVE to brag and posture…. The only thing that gives me hope is that his son had the courage, at only 18, to turn him in, because it was the right thing to do.
Urban Suburbanite
@Kay:
This isn’t the first piece of reporting on this guy. His kids testified in court about his threats to them. And yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if the wife is afraid of him while downplaying his behavior at the same time (it’s not abnormal, unfortunately)
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/judge-refuses-to-free-north-texas-capitol-riot-suspect-linked-to-militia/2632042/?amp
J R in WV
My Alma Mater, Marshall University, in Huntington WV, won the NCAA National Championship in Division 1 Soccer — 1-nil — versus Indiana U playing in Cary NC last night.
Whoot~!!~ They also won the NCAA Football championship in Div II some years back, of which I have the sweatshirt. I’ll need another few shirts asap.
I’m not a big soccer fan, really, but when your old school does that well out of nowhere, ya gotta cheer a little bit.
Also — WVU frequently wins the NCAA rifle target shooting championship, having won more than any of the military academies. Look it up. Whoot! That would be the alma mater of every other member of my immediate family, parents, bro RWNJ, wife. We grew up leaving for Morgantown at 5 am at least once a year to see the Old Gold and Blue play Pitt or Penn State in the Very long ago.
Soprano2
One thing that stuck out to me is that he thinks our founding documents are “resting” in the Capitol building. They aren’t, they “rest” in the National Archives. I actually saw them myself! It’s amazing to me how these people think they know simple things, but are wrong about them
ETA – the “God Bless America” thing. It’s one of the things I hate Bud Selig for, codifying the idea of singing that song in the 7th inning. It’s not that I don’t like the song, it’s that it doesn’t need to be sung at a ballgame! They always make you stand for it. As far as I know, there’s no requirement to stand up when “God Bless America” is sung.
narya
I want all of these jamokes in prison–in SEPARATE prisons, preferably ones that don’t have fellow travelers in the population, if there’s a way to determine that.
Calouste
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Yep, it’s my theory that these people’s emotional development comes to a screeching halt one time when their mom asks them to clean up their room or eat their broccoli or something. Around age 13-14.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Soprano2: Right there with you on the God Bless America thing..I also hate the military flyovers and unfurling giant flags on the field for sporting events. It conflates sporting events with military might etc and irritates the hell out of me. There are way too many “macho” behaviors expected and encouraged in sports already.
rikyrah
@schrodingers_cat:
ICAM.
rikyrah
These muthaphuckas would have KILLED Madam Speaker if they had gotten their hands on her.
You know it. I know it.
Pence’s azz WAS DEAD TOO.
They had the phucking gallows prepared for him.
J R in WV
@rikyrah:
Yes, but it would have been a peaceful lynching, right? NOT!!
Actually, I don’t think the “gallows” those monsters built was capable of actually hanging anyone, but it sure made their point — We’re not a peaceful demonstration, we’re a lynch mob!!~