DOJ Says Capitol Rioter Wanted To Physically Remove Pelosi and McConnell

Justice Department prosecutors announced that they had obtained evidence that an alleged rioter not only brought a gun to the US Capitol on January 6 but was also targeting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

According to Thursday’s court filing, Guy Reffitt, a member of the Texas Three Percenter militia, “specifically targeted at least two lawmakers — the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and then-Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell — whom he sought to physically remove or displace from the Capitol building.”

Prosecutors aim to prove the allegation at Reffitt’s trial, CNN reported. The trial is tentatively scheduled for late February.

He will be the first January 6 rioter to go to trial. He faces five federal charges that he has pleaded not guilty to. He has been in jail since his arrest in January.

Court documents claim Reffitt drove to Washington, DC, carrying an AR-15 rifle and pistol in his car ahead of the riot. Prosecutors allege he wore body armor and carried his gun and plastic cuff restraints while on the Capitol grounds.

Other rioters have been accused of hurling threats against lawmakers before, during, and after January 6. In the week following the historic 2020 election, including Michael Lopatic of Pennsylvania, who is accused of posting photos online of birds he had shot on a hunting trip and naming them after prominent Democratic lawmakers. Garret Miller of Texas has also been accused of tweeting “Assassinate AOC” and wrote on Facebook about hanging a Black police officer.

. Mark Mazza, who is another rioter charged with carrying a loaded firearm to the Capitol, allegedly told investigators that if he had found Pelosi that day, “you’d be here for another reason.”

Reffitt’s case garnered mainstream attention this past summer when his son spoke publicly about how his father had threatened to kill family members if they turned him into the FBI. Reffitt’s own son and daughter testified against him in court and before the grand jury.

Reffitt’s defense lawyer has continued to downplay his client’s threats as just talk, and his daughter told a judge in March she thought Reffitt was a “drama queen.”