Good morning. Today, the government's case against Guy Reffitt, the first #CapitolRiot defendant to go to trial, heads to a jury for deliberation. I'll be at the courthouse until we have a verdict.
Jury deliberations have begun in Guy Reffitt's case. Judge Friedrich says she'll give the jurors until 4:30 p.m. this afternoon and then bring them back for more deliberations tomorrow if they don't reach a verdict by then.
Jurors were told the DOJ must have proved all four of these elements beyond a reasonable doubt for them to find Guy Reffitt guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding. They may also find he attempted to commit obstruction if he took a "substantial step" toward doing so.
Jurors can also find that Guy Reffitt aided and abetted others in committing obstruction of an official proceeding. In that case, there are some additional factors the DOJ had to prove.
Just thinking over things we heard in this trial, and I still don't know what Guy Reffitt meant when he told his son the Marbury vs. Madison SCOTUS decision would "explain what's about to happen." I suppose it established that idea that Congress could act unconstitutionally?
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The sentencing hearing for James Bonet is underway. The DOJ says Bonet has continued to downplay or even celebrate the #CapitolRiot. Says a probation-only sentence should be reserved for truly exceptional circumstances, and Bonet's case doesn't merit it.
AUSA says James Bonet saw militia members "dressed for battle" and he followed them to the U.S. Capitol Building. Repeatedly ignored red flags.
DOJ says James Bonet smoking a joint in Sen. Merkley's office, and posting a picture of it, was "more than callousness. It was a show of power. It was saying, we've taken control. We can come into the Capitol and do whatever we want."
NEW: (Former) Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio has been indicted for CONSPIRACY and 6 other charges connected to the #CapitolRiot. Indictment also adds Dominic Pezzola to case w/ Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, and others. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
The indictment resolves a longstanding issue with the Dominic Pezzola case: prosecutors have for a while now placed him in a larger context but didn't charge him w/ the group's leaders or w/ conspiracy. Now that's changed. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
MORE: The indictment alleges Enrique Tarrio and other Proud Boys leaders had a plan to occupy "crucial buildings" in D.C., including House and Senate office buildings.
One of these sites that aggregates stories off tweets took my tweets and said Guy Reffitt "glared" at witnesses. I never said that. Here, sketch artist Bill Hennessy Jr. captures what Reffitt has done when witnesses have ID'd him from the stand.
This image right here — captured by court sketch artist Bill Hennessy Jr. — is a big one for the jury to consider. In most footage, Guy Reffitt's big blue coat obscures his waist. But as he waved other rioters to press forward, prosecutors say, his .40-caliber S&W became visible.
Jurors return from lunch to hear the defense's case.
Good morning all. Testimony resumes shortly in the trial of Guy Reffitt. We learned this morning the prosecution will NOT call his youngest daughter, Peyton, to testify. DOJ now expected to wrap its case by lunch.
The first witness of the day is U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Adam DesCamp. He was one of three officers who helped repel Guy Reffitt from the Capitol on January 6.
DesCamp says he's been w/ USCP for 16 years. Is now the Senate Division supervisor.
The third day of testimony for Guy Reffitt will start here in an hour or so. We're expecting to hear from a fellow Three Percenter who traveled with him to DC.
Yesterday, jurors heard from Reffitt's son -- and recordings of the man himself.
Testimony getting started with the first witness of the day: former Secretary of the Senate legal counsel Daniel Schwager. He'll explain the process of the joint session of Congress. Guy Reffitt's attorney, William Welch, tried hard to exclude him from the trial.
Daniel Schwager is going to tell the jury about a lot of procedural congressional stuff which is important for them to know, but which isn't super interesting testimony. I'll tweet anything relevant he says.
Next message appears to be Guy Reffitt recruiting people to the Texas Three Percenters' Continental Army group. He says he's the intel officer for the state's Three Percenters' chapter. Also says he's working on ways to circumvent 2nd Amendment restrictions.
Another Telegram message, this one from Guy Reffitt to fellow Three Percenter Roddy Hardie, who will testify later in the trial: "We took the Capital of the United States of America. And we will do it again."
Another message Nestler mentioned in his opening statements. Reffitt talks about being shot by Officer Shauni Kerkhoff with pepperballs and how it didn't stop him. Says all the pepper spray used against him "fired up the crowd" and they couldn't be stopped after that.