A young Texas man who contacted the FBI about his father’s role in the US Capitol riot has spoken out, saying he’d do the same again if he had to.
Jackson Reffitt, 18, whose tip-off helped see dad Guy Reffitt, 48, charged last week in the Jan. 6 siege, told local outlet Fox4 that he had a moral duty to act.
“It was my moral compass … to do what I thought would protect not only my family, but my dad himself,” he said. “I would do it again.”
According to court papers, Wylie resident Guy Reffitt had allegedly threatened his son and daughter, warning them: “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor and you know what happens to traitors … traitors get shot.”
“I took that as a threat, but I never thought he would act upon it,” his son told the TV station.
Jackson explained that his dad had embraced increasingly radical views over the years as a member of a far-right militia group.
Calling the FBI “wasn’t just because I think my dad is aggressive,” he said. “I think what he’s been manipulated into thinking is aggressive.”
Jackson recalled the moment he learned his father was at the siege.
“I think it was FOX playing, and it was just live screening of riots at the Capitol, and the rushing in, and my mom said your dad is there,” he said.
Yet Jackson also agonized over what might happen when law enforcement turned up to arrest his father.
“The police could’ve come in at any time, at a bad time, regardless of the situation and my dad could’ve opened fire,” he told the channel.
Federal authorities tracked Guy Reffitt down after footage of him at the Capitol during the riot appeared on YouTube and Fox News the same day, according to court papers.
Photos included in an arrest affidavit show him at the Capitol wearing a padded or tactical style vest and black helmet with what looks like a GoPro-style camera attached.
(Fox4)
Investigators discovered he had previously posted a comment on a website for an extremist militia group known as the Texas Freedom Force, according to the FBI.
During Reffitt’s Jan. 15 arrest, authorities found an AR-15 style rifle and a Smith & Wesson pistol, court papers state.
Jackson hasn’t been able to speak with his dad since the arrest, but said he wishes that he could.
“I would say I’m sorry, because I don’t feel like I put him in this situation, but I still feel guilty,” he said.