Man who stormed Capitol with gun gets longest prison term
by MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press - 08/01/22 4:06 PM ETWASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas man convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun, helmet and body armor was sentenced Monday to more than seven years in prison, the longest sentence imposed so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.
Prosecutors said Guy Reffitt told fellow members of the Texas Three Percenters militia group that he planned to drag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the Capitol building by her ankles, “with her head hitting every step on the way down,” according to a court filing.
Reffitt’s prison sentence — seven years and three months — is two years more than the previous longest prison sentence for a Capitol riot defendant. But it’s less than half the length of the 15-year prison term requested by a federal prosecutor, who called Reffitt a domestic terrorist and said he wanted to physically remove and replace members of Congress.
Reffitt was the first person to go on trial for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, in which supporters of then-President Donald Trump halted the joint session of Congress for certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who presided over Reffitt’s jury trial, also sentenced him to three years of supervised release after his prison term and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Sentencing guidelines calculated by the judge called for a term of imprisonment ranging from seven years and three months to nine years.
Friedrich rejected prosecutors’ contention that an “upward departure for terrorism” — leading to a far longer sentence — was warranted in Reffitt’s case. It was the first time that prosecutors have requested that sentencing enhancement for a Jan. 6 case.
“He wanted to physically and literally remove Congress,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler told the judge. “We do believe that he is a domestic terrorist.”
Friedrich, however, questioned why Reffitt would merit the terrorism enhancement when many other rioters engaged in violence and made similarly disturbing threats.
The longest sentence before Reffitt’s was five years and three months, for two men who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers at the Capitol.
Reffitt, who already has been jailed for approximately 19 months, initially balked at speaking to the judge during Monday’s hearing. But he changed his mind during a lunch break and offered an expletive-laden apology to police officers, lawmakers and congressional staffers who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Calling himself “an idiot,” Reffitt struggled to explain why he stormed the Capitol.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-politics/man-who-stormed-capitol-with-gun-gets-87-months-in-prison/
