An 18-year-old Texan tipped the FBI about his father’s role in the United States Capitol riot – and said he would do it again.
Jackson Reffitt – whose father Guy Reffitt was charged last week in the Jan. 6 siege – told Fox4 that he acted out of moral obligation.
“It was my moral compass … to do what I thought would protect not only my family, but my own father,” he said.
“I would do that again.”
The oldest Reffitt, from Wylie, would have threatened his son and daughter saying: “If you report me, you are a traitor and you know what happens to traitors … traitors are shot,” court documents say.
Her son told the TV station, “I considered it a threat, but I never thought he would act on it.”
Reffitt said his father is part of a far-right militia group and that he has embraced increasingly radicalized views over the years.
He was concerned about what would happen when the police came to arrest his father, saying, “The police could have come in at any time, at a bad time, regardless of the situation and my father could have opened fire.”
Calling the FBI “wasn’t just because I think my dad is aggressive,” said Reffitt. “I think what he was manipulated to think is aggressive.”
He also remembered the moment when he learned that his father was in the siege.
“I think it was on FOX playing, and it was just a live display of riots on the Capitol, and the rush, and my mom said her dad is there,” said Reffitt.
Guy Reffitt, 48, was tracked by federal authorities after footage of him on Capitol Hill during the rebellion was shown on YouTube and Fox News on the day of the siege, according to court documents.
Photos included in a prison statement show him wearing a padded vest or tactical style and a black helmet with what appears to be a GoPro-style camera connected while on Capitol Hill.
Investigators found that he had previously posted a comment on the website of an extremist militia group known as Texas Freedom Force, according to the FBI.
When authorities arrested him on January 15, they found an AR-15 rifle and a Smith & Wesson pistol, according to court documents.
Although he has not been able to speak to his father since his arrest, Jackson said he wished he could.
“I would say I’m sorry, because I don’t feel like I put you in this situation, but I still feel guilty,” he said.