A supporter of former President Donald Trump who was arrested for storming the US Capitol in the Jan. 6 insurrection became the first MAGA fanatic to face a firearms charge under a riot law, according to a new indictment filed this week.
The man, Guy Wesley Reffitt, of Texas, was taken into custody after his wife told the FBI that he threatened to shoot her and their children if they turned him in.
Following his arrest in January, he was charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; as well as obstruction of justice by hindering communication through physical force or threat of physical force.
In a superseding indictment on Wednesday, he was issued the additional charge of having a firearm with him at the Capitol.
The charge states that while at the Capitol “without lawful authority to do so, and during and in relation to the offense, did use and carry a deadly and dangerous weapon and firearm, that is, a semi-automatic handgun.”
Reffitt was seen in a video posted to YouTube wearing a blue jacket over a black tactical-style vest and a black helmet with a camera attached.
Reffitt pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Prosecutors wrote in a court filing in March that he said he brought his firearm and had it on him when he stormed the Capitol. He said he had “every constitutional right to carry a weapon and take over the Congress.”
Hundreds of people have been arrested in connection with the riots that led to five deaths.
