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- Prosecutors in the first trial for a Capitol riot suspect are planning to call the man's two kids to the stand.
- The trial of defendant Guy Wesley Reffitt, a member of the Texas Three Percenters, is slated to begin on February 28.
- Prosecutors are expected to call his children to testify about how Reffitt threatened them if they cooperated with the FBI.
Prosecutors in the first trial of a Capitol riot suspect are planning to call the man's son and daughter to the stand as government witnesses, new court documents show.
The trial of Guy Wesley Reffitt — who prosecutors accused of being a member of a far-right militia group and storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, while carrying a semi-automatic handgun — is scheduled to begin later this month.
Prosecutors are expected to call Reffitt's two children to testify in the case, according to court papers filed this week that list the 13 witnesses the government plans to put on the stand.
Prosecutors allege that Reffitt threatened his children to keep them from turning him over to authorities after the Capitol riot.
Refitt's son Jackson, who was 18 at the time of the insurrection, will introduce five audio recordings he made of his father in the days after his dad returned home to Texas from the Capitol riot, prosecutors said.
Jackson has previously said that he tipped off the FBI about his dad.
Court documents allege Reffitt told his children that he knew the FBI was "watching him."
The dad allegedly told his son and daughter on January 11, 2021, that he had to "erase everything," referring to video evidence of him at the insurrection, according to prosecutors.
Reffitt told his son that if he reported him to police, Reffitt would have no choice but to "do what he had to do," the court papers say.
According to prosecutors, Reffitt's then 16-year-old daughter, Payton, is also expected to testify that her father told them that "if they turned him in to law enforcement, they would be traitors, and that traitors get shot."
"She will also testify that she believed the defendant was intending to intimidate her and her brother to not contact the police or FBI about the defendant's involvement in the riot at the Capitol," prosecutors said.
Reffitt's attorney, William L. Welch, III, did not immediately return a request for comment by Insider on Wednesday. Reffitt's family could not be reached for comment.
Reffitt, 49, faces five federal charges in connection to the insurrection, including bringing guns to Washington DC and obstruction of justice through physical force.
He also faces accusations of obstructing Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election and entering restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
Reffitt has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Jackson Reffitt told ABC News last month that he doesn't think his father will forgive him or "really take into consideration what he's been a part of."
Peyton Reffitt told the news outlet that she was "ready to move on."
"I have anger, but I love him," she said of her father.
The government also expects to call to the stand a US Secret Service agent, a Capitol Police officer, and a member of Texas Three Percenter group, which Reffitt allegedly joined and is described as "anti-government extremists" by the Anti-Defamation League.
More than 750 people have been charged with crimes since supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol and roughly 200 of them have pleaded guilty.
source https://www.businessinsider.com/prosecutors-plan-to-call-capitol-riot-suspects-kids-as-witnesses-2022-2