A teenage girl testified against her father in court after her brother turned him into the FBI over his role in the Capitol insurrection
- A Capitol protester will stay in jail after his children gave officials information about their dad.
- Guy Reffitt reportedly threatened his kids after participating in the January 6 siege.
- His arrest has torn the family apart, according to CNN.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
An alleged Three Percenter, who is accused of breaching the Capitol, will remain in jail awaiting his trial after his own family members gave officials information leading to his arrest, CNN reported Monday.
Guy Reffitt, a Texas husband and father, drove to Washington, DC, to attend the January 6 pro-Trump rally armed with an AR-15 rifle and pistol, threatened his family members, boasted about his participation, and bragged to fellow militia members that the siege was just "the beginning," according to court documents.
Days after returning from his trip to the nation's capital, Reffitt told his children he knew the FBI was "watching him." On January 11 he told his 18-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter he had to "erase everything," referring to video evidence of his attendance, legal records said.
Reffitt told his son, Jackson, that if he crossed the line and reported his father to the police, Reffitt would have no option but to "do what he had to do," Jackson told investigators. When Jackson asked his father if he was threatening him, Reffitt reportedly responded by saying, "don't put words in my mouth," the affidavit said.
Reffitt also threatened his daughter, according to court documents. The girl was using her cell phone to talk with friends when Reffitt told her if she was recording him or put anything about him on social media she would have "crossed the line, betrayed the family" and he would "put a bullet through" her phone, according to the affidavit.
That same day, the two children - who disapproved of their father's pro-Trump politics - told their mother, Nicole, that Reffitt had threatened them. When confronted by his wife, Reffitt reportedly doubled down on his warnings, saying if his children turned him in they would be traitors and "traitors get shot," court documents said.
Reffitt's wife and son told FBI officials all this and more when agents arrived at their Wylie home on January 16 to execute a search warrant and eventually arrest Reffitt, according to legal records.
Jackson has since left the family's home and is now living in an undisclosed location, according to court documents. The son previously told CNN that he tipped the FBI off about his father.
But despite detailing Reffitt's post-siege behavior to investigators, family members have continued to support the patriarch in court and in the media.
Nicole told CNN that Reffitt is a "loving husband and devoted father, loyal friend, and passionate patriot." She insisted his statements were taken out of context and said nobody ever felt they were in real danger.
The couple's minor daughter and her boyfriend, meanwhile testified on behalf of Reffitt in court Monday. Though she told the judge she thought Reffitt had tried to intimidate her and her brother, his daughter said she did not believe he would be dangerous if released, CNN reported.
Reffitt's lawyer also downplayed his client's threats while arguing for his pretrial release.
US Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui rejected Reffitt's release request because of prosecutors' claims that Reffitt had donned body armor, a helmet, a firearm, and plastic flex-cuffs on the Capitol grounds, according to The Washington Post.
Faruqui said Reffitt had used encrypted communications with fellow Three Percenters before and after the attack and had planned for violence.
Insider reached out to Reffitt's defense attorney for comment.
The Three Percenters, a far-right, anti-government group for which Reffitt said he conducted vetting and intelligence, formed in 2008, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Its name originates from the myth that only 3% of colonists took up arms during the Revolutionary War. Members view themselves as "modern-day versions of those revolutionaries fighting against a tyrannical US government rather than the British."
When Faruqui read his decision, it elicited a "wail" from Reffitt's wife, daughter, and daughter's boyfriend, CNN reported.
Despite their support of Reffitt, it was at least the third time members of his family had given details about his actions to authorities.
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Wednesday, March 17, 2021
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