A large group of protesters stand on the East steps of the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:40 AM PT – Thursday, August 4, 2022
The heaviest sentence towards a January 6 protester was announced on Tuesday, raising eyebrows as the man convicted had never stepped foot in the Capitol building. Guy Reffitt was sentenced to seven and a half years behind bars. This sentencing is less compared to the number of years prosecutors were seeking.
Prosecutors demanded a 15-year sentence and wanted the judge to designate Reffitt as a domestic terrorist due to him having a weapon with him on January 6. Back in March, the Texas resident was convicted of carrying a gun on Capitol grounds. While announcing his sentence, the judge refused to designate Reffitt as a terrorist, while citing that he never unholstered his firearm.
Reffitt’s wife, Nicole, wasn’t surprised with the outcome. She stated that her husband’s sentencing is just the start of political persecution.
“No matter if you are a Liberal, if you’re an Independent, if you’re a Republican, this is not okay.” She continued, “The way that people protest in the future will be determined on their political ideology if it’s okay to charge them or not charge them.”
She went on to warn of the repercussions that will unfold from the way the Justice Department has been handling these types of cases.
“If we allow our country to keep being driven into the ground by the corrupt, evil politicians here in this city, then one day at your kitchen table the FBI is going to come in and tell you that you stood up at the school board meeting and you are now a domestic terrorist” she said. “So wake up, America. This isn’t just about a guy, Wesley Reffitt. This isn’t about just January 6. This is about our liberties being stomped on.”
Reffitt was turned into the authorities by his son, who accused his father of threatening him and his sister if they went to the police. However, his daughter said it wasn’t so cut and dry.
“He was not threatening to kill us,” she stated. “And my brother said multiple times that he did not think that his intention was to actually go through with something like that.”
In addition to his 87 month prison sentence, Reffitt will have three years of supervised release and will be forced to pay $2,000 in restitution.