A federal judge refused Thursday to free a Texas man whom authorities have accused of planning an attack on a social media company鈥檚 facility after he returned home from storming the U.S. Capitol.
Guy Wesley Reffitt, one of more than 400 federal defendants charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, has been identified by prosecutors as a member of a militia-style group linked to the extremist movement.
Reffitt bragged about his actions in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 during a Zoom meeting with two other militia members four days after the siege, according to prosecutors. A recording of the meeting obtained by investigators captured Reffitt discussing a plan to attack 鈥渕ainstream media,鈥� 鈥淪ilicon Valley,鈥� and 鈥淏ig Tech,鈥� prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say Reffitt specifically targeted a 鈥減rominent鈥� social media company鈥檚 facility in Texas. During Thursday鈥檚 remote hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler didn鈥檛 name the company that Reffitt allegedly targeted but said it had servers near his home in Wylie, a Dallas suburb.
鈥淗e knew the description of the generator there and how a well-placed sniper shot could take out that generator and how much impact that would have on that company and therefore on American society,鈥� the prosecutor said.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich concluded that Reffitt would pose a danger to the public if she ordered his release from a Washington jail. The judge said she can鈥檛 dismiss Reffitt鈥檚 violent rhetoric as 鈥渕ere boasts,鈥� pointing to evidence that he planned more attacks.
鈥淢r. Reffitt backed up his comments with actions,鈥� she said during a remote hearing Thursday. 鈥淗e did, in fact, attempt to recruit new militia members to his cause. And he stated that the events of January 6th were just the preface to what was coming.鈥�
Reffitt had been threatening to attack social media companies for months before the Capitol siege, prosecutors said. A relative warned the FBI in late December that Reffitt was 鈥済oing to do some serious damage鈥� related to lawmakers in Washington, according to prosecutors, who said he took an AR-15 rifle and a pistol with him when and another militia member drove to Washington.
Reffitt played a 鈥渟ignificant and dangerous role鈥� in the deadly attack, leading a group of rioters up the Capitol steps to confront law enforcement officers, prosecutors said in an April 28 court filing.
鈥淩effitt鈥檚 actions caused the police line guarding the building to retreat closer to the building itself; soon after, law enforcement was overwhelmed, and rioters breached and flooded the building,鈥� they wrote.
After returning home, Reffitt told his children that they would be traitors if they reported him to law enforcement and warned them that 鈥渢raitors get shot,鈥� according to prosecutors.
A grand jury indicted Reffitt on charges of obstructing an official proceeding, obstruction of justice and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds.
In March, a federal magistrate ordered Reffitt detained pending trial. Reffitt asked Friedrich to overturn that order.
鈥淭he government just claims that Mr. Reffitt is a threat, but does not identify an articulable one,鈥� defense attorney William Welch said Thursday.
