Capitol riot defendant’s 19-year-old son testifies he Googled FBI tip line to report father

The 19-year-old son of Capitol riot defendant Guy Reffitt took the stand as a witness on Thursday, where he admitted that he secretly Googled the FBI tip line over concerns about actions his father might have taken.

Jackson Reffitt revealed to the court that his father belongs to the Three Percenters militia, a far-right extremist group and “pretty much all the time” keeps a Smith & Wesson gun in his possession, according to CBS News.

He described to the court that it “felt gross” to have to “report my father,” but detailed that he had become “paranoid” in late 2020 about his father’s plans, the news outlet noted.

Jackson Reffitt testified that his father had mentioned doing something big “several” times and allegedly sent his family a text in a group chat saying, “We did it in the CIVIL WAR and now we are doing it again. It’s the government that is going to be destroyed in this fight,” CBS News reported.

The older Reffitt has reportedly been charged with bringing a firearm to the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and transporting firearms to Washington, D.C., from Texas.

Prosecutors on Thursday played recordings of Guy Reffitt that his son said he had recorded after his father returned from participating in the riot in D.C.

“I had a very epic point in my life,” Guy reportedly said in one recording. “I felt so patriotic.”

“You carried a weapon onto Capitol grounds,” Jackson Reffitt reportedly told his father in a recording. “OK,” Guy Reffitt responded, before adding, “I did it. I did bring a weapon on property that we own,” CBS News reported.

Guy Reffitt’s attorney pushed back on Jackson Reffitt’s testimony and argued the case against his client is “a lot of hype” and that Guy uses “a lot of hyperbole.”

The older Reffitt could spend up to 60 years in prison if he is convicted, the news outlet noted.