Jury selection resumes for 1st trial over Capitol riot
WASHINGTON (AP) - Jury selection resumed on Tuesday in the first trial for one of the hundreds of Donald Trump supporters charged with storming the U.S. Capitol last year.
The first Capitol riot defendant to be tried is Guy Wesley Reffitt, a Texas man charged with bringing a gun onto Capitol grounds and interfering with police officers who were guarding the building on Jan. 6, 2021. Reffitt also is charged with threatening his teenage children if they reported him to authorities after he returned home to Wylie, Texas.
The judge presiding over Reffitt's trial in Washington, D.C., individually questioned more than 30 prospective jurors on Monday during the first day of jury selection. U.S. District Judge Dabney Freidrich said she hopes to finish picking a jury on Tuesday to hear attorneys' opening statements later in the day.
Reffitt's trial could be a bellwether for many other Capitol riot cases. A conviction would give prosecutors more leverage in plea talks with others. An acquittal could inspire other defendants to either push for a more favorable plea deal or gamble a trial of their own.
More than 750 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot following then-President Donald Trump's 'œStop the Steal'ť rally. Over 200 of them have pleaded guilty, more than 100 have been sentenced and at least 90 others have trial dates.
Reffitt is a member of a militia-style group called the 'œTexas Three Percenters,'ť according to prosecutors. The Three Percenters militia movement refers to the myth that only 3% of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War against the British.
Reffitt was armed with a holstered handgun and wearing body armor when he and others charged at police officers on the west side of the Capitol, according to prosecutors. Reffitt retreated only after an officer pepper sprayed him in the face, prosecutors said.
Defense attorney William Welch has said there is no evidence that Reffitt damaged property, used force or physically harmed anybody.
Reffitt faces five counts: obstruction of an official proceeding, being unlawfully present on Capitol grounds while armed with a firearm, transporting firearms during a civil disorder, interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, and obstruction of justice.
The obstructing justice charge stems from threats that he allegedly made against his son, then 18, and daughter, then 16. Reffett told his children to 'œchoose a side or die'ť and said they would be traitors if they reported him to law enforcement, prosecutors said.