Son of Capitol rioter who turned him in says he’s getting further radicalised in jail
The father said he did not regret his actions in a letter he wrote from jail
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Your support makes all the difference.A college student who turned his father in to investigators after the Capitol riot is afraid his dad is getting further radicalised in prison.
VICE News spoke with Jackson Reffitt, who turned his father, Guy Reffitt, into the FBI after learning he had participated in the Capitol riot.
Guy Reffitt was arrested on 19 January. He is a member of the extremist right-wing gang the Three Percenters, and was charged with five counts related to the Capitol riot, including possession of a semi-automatic weapon on Capitol grounds.
He has pleaded not guilty and is still awaiting trial from prison alongside dozens of other accused rioters.
Guy Reffitt is being jailed in the Central Detention Facility in Washington DC, where the rioters facing the most serious charges are currently being held.
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According to numerous reports, the accused rioters inside the facility – thanks to their proximity – may be continuing to radicalise each other.
VICE previously reported that the defendants in the so-called "Patriot Wing" of the facility have been singing the national anthem and have started their own handwritten newsletter.
Guy Reffitt may be among those becoming more radicalised; ProPublica published a letter from jail written by the man in which he claims he bonded with other defendants and that he did not regret his actions on 6 January.
“It was pretty disgusting to read that. I mean like it's psycho stuff,” Jackson Reffitt, 19, told VICE News. “Honestly, it made me feel worse about my decision, only because I feel like I pushed him in a more extreme direction. I made him more enthusiastic about what he's done.”
Jackson Reffitt made the decision to turn his father in after watching him sink deeper and deeper into right-wing extremist ideologies.
During an interview with ABC News, he said that he felt a responsibility to turn him in “as the only one that actually sees what he's doing right now”.
According to Jackson Reffitt, when his father returned from the Captiol riot he began threatening him and his siblings, saying he would “do what he had to do” if he was reported to investigators.
Reporting his father to police has taken a toll on Jackson Reffittt; he has since had a falling out with his mother and sisters, and has moved out of his family home.
“I also bear the guilt of pretty much tearing this family apart and it sucks but I can't do much about it,” he said in his ABC News interview.
His father told the broadcaster that he hopes he will one day be able to have a relationship with his son, saying: “I will always love my son”.