An 18-year-old Texas man reported to the FBI about his father’s role in the U.S. Capitol Revolt and said he would do it again.
Jackson Reffitt, the father of whom Guy Reffitt was charged last week in the Jan. 6 siege, told local prey Fox4 he was acting out of moral obligation.
“It was my moral compass … to do what I thought would protect not only my family, but my father as well,” he said.
“I would do it again.”
Major Reffitt, of Wylie, had allegedly threatened his son and daughter by saying, “If you free me, you are a traitor and you know what happens to the traitors … the traitors are shot,” the court documents state.
His son told the TV station, “I took this as a threat, but I never thought I would act on it.”
Reffitt said his father is part of a far-right militia group and has adopted increasingly radicalized views over the years.
He was worried about what would happen when law enforcement came to arrest his father, saying, “The police could have come in at any time and at a bad time, regardless of the situation and my father could have opened fire.”
Calling the FBI, “it wasn’t just because I think my dad is aggressive,” Reffitt said. “I think what he’s manipulated to think is aggressive.”
He also remembered the moment he learned his father was in the siege.
“I think I was playing FOX, and it was just a live screening of riots at the Capitol, and the rush, and my mom said your dad is there,” Reffitt said.
Guy Reffitt, 48, was tracked down by federal authorities after images were played on the Capitol during the riot on YouTube and Fox News on the day of the siege, according to court papers.
Photos included in an affidavit show him dressed in a padded or tactical vest and a black helmet with what looks like a GoPro-style camera connected while he was at the Capitol.
Investigators found that he had previously posted a comment on a website for an extremist militia group known as the Texas Freedom Force, according to the FBI.
When authorities arrested him on January 15, they found an AR-15-style rifle and a Smith & Wesson pistol, according to court documents.
Although he has not been able to speak to his father since the arrest, Jackson said he wished he could.
“I would say I’m sorry, because I don’t have the feeling of putting him in this situation, but I still feel guilty,” he said.