Jackson Reffitt, who tipped off the FBI about his J6-er father, Guy Reffitt, “has spent most of the last four years in hiding, constantly on the move every few months,” Wired reports. Guy Reffitt was not just some avid Trump supporter carried away by the crowd but an instigator with violence on his mind. “He was caught on camera urging other rioters to storm the Capitol building and told members of his militia group that he intended to drag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the building by her ankles, ‘with her head hitting every step on the way down,’” according to Wired.
Since Trump’s reckless and impulsive pardon, Jackson Reffitt has been deluged with online threats. He is now reportedly terrified.
He’s not the only one.
More from Wired:
In the last 24 hours “it’s gotten worse than ever,” Reffitt tells WIRED. “I think just because, yet again, the validation that Trump is bringing is just making people a whole lot more emboldened to just say some vile, disgusting shit.”
Reffitt is not the only family member of a released January 6 prisoner who is concerned about the fallout from Trump’s blanket pardons. Tasha Adams, the ex-wife of Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes, who had his 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy commuted by Trump, is also worried about what might happen. “Stewart is out of prison now and, frankly, I could really use a bit of a run fund, in case it comes to that,” Adams wrote on her GoFundMe page on Tuesday, hours after her ex-husband was released from prison.
Reffitt, Adams and the rest of us have good reason to worry. Reffitt believes his father has become even more radicalized in prison. Presumably, others have too. Now, they not only feel emboldened but can buy (more) guns. One was already re-arrested and will probably not be the only one. Wired writes about the bigger worry of a pro-Trump militia:
“One of things I’m most concerned about is the risk of groups that were decimated after J6 coming back stronger, especially since many of them had their sentences commuted or were outright pardoned,” says Luke Baumgartner, a research fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism. “I wouldn’t be shocked if the Oath Keepers began making more appearances, and seeing the Proud Boys accelerate their culture war tactics, especially against the LGBTQ community, like we’ve seen before. Their leaders are free, they have a lot to catch up on, and they are likely feeling vindicated.”
Trump’s pardons are very unpopular. That’s on top of the fact that he began his term with unfavorable ratings. As Josh Marshall noted a few days ago, this is just one piece of low-hanging MAGA fruit ripe for Democrats to grab. So, Democrats, go at it bigly!
