The Washington Post revealed on Tuesday that the FBI interviewed the wife of a rioter that took part in the failed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. She revealed that the man threatened to murder his children if they turned him in.
Wylie, Texas, resident Guy Reffitt was arrested after sharing details of his experience at the U.S. Capitol with his family.
According to The Post, Reffitt’s wife admitted that Reffitt had threatened his children and insisted they would be shot if they turned him to law enforcement officials.
“If you turn me in, you’re a traitor and you know what happens to traitors… traitors get shot,” Reffitt, 48, said, according to his wife. On Saturday, Reffitt was arrested by the FBI and charged with “unlawfully entering the Capitol” and obstruction of justice for the threat of physical harm that he made toward his family.
According to the Post, FBI agents were able to identify Reffitt “by comparing the image in the video to his driver’s license, according to the affidavit.” Reffitt’s cell phone number and email address were also found on the “Texas Freedom Force” website, a platform designated for the group that the FBI identified as a “militia extremist group.” The FBI also confirmed Reffitt’s whereabouts on Jan. 6 as tracking data placed him at the Capitol that day.
Despite the threats, Reffitt’s son told the FBI that his father had gone to Washington, D.C., armed with “his AR-15 rifle and a Smith & Wesson pistol.”
According to the affidavit, Reffitt’s son claims his father told him if he “crossed the line and reported Reffitt to the police, putting the family in jeopardy, Reffitt would have no option but to do Reffitt’s duty for Reffitt’s country, and ‘do what he had to do.'”
In an interview with KXAS, Reffitt’s 18-year-old son expressed concern about his father’s attachment to Trump and right-wing ideology. “I love him but I hate him,” the unnamed teen said of his father. “I don’t really know him anymore.”
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