WASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas militia member who is the first person to be tried for the assault on the U.S. Capitol “lit the match that started the fire” when a mob charged at police officers guarding the building, a prosecutor said Wednesday during the trial’s opening statements.
A defense lawyer told jurors that the Justice Department’s case against Guy Wesley Reffitt is based on “a lot of hype” and a “rush to judgment” against a man who is prone to bragging, exaggerating and ranting.
“He uses a lot of hyperbole, and that upsets people,” said Reffitt’s attorney, William Welch.
But prosecutors said Reffitt drove from Texas to Washington, armed with guns, because he intended to storm the Capitol and try to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory during a joint session on Jan. 6, 2021.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler said Reffitt’s own words and actions, captured on video, show how he played a leadership role in a mob’s attack against officers on the west side of the Capitol.
“The defendant was the tip of this mob’s spear,” Nestler said. He referred to the Jan. 6 riot as an attack on the “heart of democracy in our country” and the worst assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812.