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“I put my emotions behind me to do what I thought was right,” said Jackson Reffitt, who weeks before the siege alerted the F.B.I. that his father was planning “something big.”


Jackson Reffitt contacted the F.B.I. about his father, Guy Reffitt.Credit...

By Bryan Pietsch
Jan. 24, 2021
Two days after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, Jackson Reffitt’s father, Guy W. Reffitt, returned to the family’s home in Texas. He told his son that he had stormed the Capitol, according to an F.B.I. affidavit.

Then his father leveled a threat: If Jackson, 18, reported him to the police, he would have no choice but to do his “duty” for his country and “do what he had to do.”

In interviews with investigators, Jackson Reffitt said his father told him: “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor. And you know what happens to traitors. Traitors get shot.”

But he had already reported his father to the F.B.I. weeks before the riot.

“He would always tell me that he’s going to do something big,” the younger Mr. Reffitt said in a phone interview on Saturday. “I assumed he was going to do something big, and I didn’t know what.”

Guy Reffitt’s wife told investigators after the riot that he was a member of the Three Percenters, a far-right militia group, according to the affidavit.

F.B.I. agents found an AR-15 rifle and a pistol at his home. The elder Mr. Reffitt told investigators that he had brought the pistol with him to Washington.

Jackson Reffitt said he learned that his father was headed to Washington the day before the riot but that he did not know what he would be doing there. He discovered what was happening when he saw images of rioters storming the Capitol on the news.

It was not clear what, if anything, the Federal Bureau of Investigation did after Mr. Reffitt first contacted the F.B.I. about his father. Federal investigators contacted him during the riots to follow up on his tip from weeks earlier, at which point, he said, he helped “prove what they were trying to investigate.”

Mr. Reffitt said he had “just wanted someone to know” about his father’s threats of “doing something big.”

“I didn’t know what he was going to do, so I just did anything possible just to be on the safe side,” he added.

The elder Mr. Reffitt, who was arrested on Jan. 16, faces charges of obstruction of justice and of knowingly entering a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority. He could not be reached on Sunday, and it was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer. The F.B.I. was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.

Mr. Reffitt said he was unsure if his father knew yet that he had reported him to the federal authorities.

“I am afraid for him to know,” he said. “Not for my life or anything, but for what he might think.” But he said he was hopeful that his relationship with his father could be repaired.

“We’ll get better over time,” he said. “I know we will.”

He said his mother and two sisters “had no idea what I had done” until they saw a CNN interview he did with Chris Cuomo.

After the interview gained traction online, Mr. Reffitt said on Twitter, “Yes I’m the kid on cnn.”

The tweet garnered thousands of likes and retweets, and he said he was flooded with messages asking him to set up a GoFundMe, so he did.

“Every penny is another course in college or me saving it for years to come,” he wrote on the crowdfunding platform. “I might be kicked out of my house due to my involvement in my dad’s case, so every cent might help me survive.”

Mr. Reffitt was not staying at his family’s home, and he declined to say where he was for fear of his safety. He was using his girlfriend’s phone because his family had disconnected his, he said.

He said he posted the GoFundMe page shortly before going to bed on Friday, expecting a few thousand dollars would be raised. When he woke up on Saturday, the page had raised more than $20,000.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 1,800 donations were pledged, amounting to more than $58,000.

Mr. Reffitt is in his first semester studying political science at Collin College, a community college near his family’s home in Wylie, Texas, a Dallas suburb. When asked if the money would cover the rest of his undergraduate education, he said: “Oh man, you have no idea. I’m going to go on to a university now.”

As for others grappling with whether to come forward about someone they believe could be involved in something dangerous, “you’re not just protecting yourself, but you’re protecting them as well,” he said.

“I put my emotions behind me to do what I thought was right,” Mr. Reffitt said of reporting his father. And though he does not regret his decision, he said, “He’s still family, and it’s still weird.”

Son? lol

Ungrateful little attention seeking shit.

So he tipped off the FBI prior to the event that his father was planning some type of attack and they don't do anything until weeks after said event?

Don't let your children grow up to be poofs

Afraid his dad would find out, but does a CNN interview and gofundme.    

Fuck that kid.

Reminds me of East Germany and the scholarship awards the Stazi Would present each year.

" ........ so I just did anything possible just to be on the safe side"


Young people have always been taught how to think.

This is how they are being taught to think now.

This really is the Twilight Zone. It's like the space time continuum only partially flopped and we ended up with a blend of today, 1930s Germany and 1970s to 80s Eastern Europe.

this girl really got a dakimakura in the background

Sounds like the FBI.

This is an attention seeking trend among young commies.

Does he have a Go Fund Me page yet?

ETA

yup

Save it for years to come lmao.

Scum

If you still haven’t read 1984, do so.  It covers this behavior and so much more of what is happening right now.

So, he's been disowned?

This is standard behavior towards a son who turns on his family.

*shrug*

It's the dad's fault for raising a fucking boy that likes hello kitty and anime.

This is one who should have been a stain on the drapes.  

The modern Hitler youth.

Amazing how money and the chance to suck a famous dick can ease that fear huh.....

I need to figure out a way to spout some leftist nonsense so I can get a GFM set up.

As far as the son I hope dad totally and completely disowns him.

Don’t think his relationship with his father will be repaired.......... he’s screwed and I would disown him

This

Political Science major. Hah.

I think George Orwell wrote a book about this.......

Pack the little shits stuff and set it at the curb.

When I read this article, the first thing that came to my mind was Winston's neighbors kids running around accusing him of being a thought criminal.

Not exactly the Cleavers. Something's wonky.

I would take his hello kitty. Actions have consequences.

He is now finding out what consequences are.

In before the kid starts a gofundme for college like the other girl did.

I tell my son snitches get stitches

It's reported at 58k in the article...bet it's higher now.

Edit: Just checked. Up to 100k now. Disgusting

Sounds like North Korea..

"It was not clear what, if anything, the Federal Bureau of Investigation did after Mr. Reffitt first contacted the F.B.I. about his father"

Says it all.  Ex-post-facto overreaction to a tip that doesn't even resemble what the man actually did.

Oh yeah, crossing the velvet rope was sure "something big!"

Well hope these little fuckers starve

Treason at the federal level means execution. With family, it’s personal and punishment should be worse

He probably doesn't realize he has left his family homeless also.

The hello Kitty water cooler behind him says volumes.

I'm sure Jackson Reffitt’s husband is very proud of him.

He did his duty?  That little commie fucker. Looks like dad raised a pussy beta who likes the D. Dad should beat his ass and kick him to the curb.

Betraying family is the lowest someone can go.

Done

So lets hope the old man gets home and throws him out the door, the kid will spend that 100k inside 90 days and be broke again and no longer the old mans problem

18? Hello kitty in background? He’ll be on To Catch a Predator in a couple years.

Bingo

SP almost NI

This is the exact reason I cringe when peeps talk of "moving to a free state". Sure Ol Joe Blow gun owner might be OK but it's what he drags along with him that's the problem.

That's "get the fuck out, and leave anything that you yourself didn't pay for, and have a nice life" shit right there