Several hours after taking the oath of office on Monday, President Donald Trump signed the pardons and commuted the sentences of more than 1,500 people who were involved in the attack at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Since the executive action, defendants have slowly been released from jail and prison, including Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who was convicted for his actions and was serving time in Washington, D.C.
His 22-year-old son, Jackson, watched his father’s movements in Washington on January 6, 2021, using the location-sharing function in his family’s group chat. Jackson had expressed concerns to the FBI that his father would do something radical at the Capitol and shared those worries with the agency a few days before the attack on the Capitol. He says the FBI called him a few hours after the insurrection began to ask him questions about his tip.
After turning his father into federal law enforcement, Jackson says he’s faced a barrage of threats, purchased a rifle for protection and moved several times for his safety. He shared a few threatening messages and online posts that he’s received in the last few days. One message sent on X says, “Are you still breathing or am I gonna have to finish off the job for daddy?”
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Jackson’s relationship with his family has been strained since the trial and his father’s conviction.
In a Zoom interview, he says his initial reaction when he heard the news of the pardons was a gradual realization of something he had been bracing for and was finally unfolding.
“You just have to understand and process it throughout the day, which was just me sitting there melting into my couch, you know, refreshing my every social media I had, every news hour going and just focusing, hyper fixating on it. That was my reaction was just, you know, pure paranoia of what's going to happen,” he said.
Jackson said that he has not spoken with his father since his release, adding that it was “terrifying” to see him in a photograph with Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers who was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in January 6. Rhodes had his prison sentence commuted by Trump and was released from incarceration as well. He has been spotted in Washington, D.C.
Jackson was hopeful that his father’s time in prison would change his perspective on extremism. But he fears the opposite is true, pointing to his father spending time with Rhodes.
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“Clearly, he's gotten more and more radicalized and justified and validated himself, which is just terrifying to see,” he said.
Prosecutors said during Guy Reffitt’s trial that he was a member of the Texas Three Percenters militia group.
President Trump was asked by a reporter this week if there was a place in the political conversation for militia groups like the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers.
He responded: “We have to see.”
When asked if he thought far-right militia groups would be emboldened now, Jackson Reffitt thinks they already have been.
“It's like preaching to the choir. I think now, we all know what it has led to and what has already happened in the past couple of days," he said. "You know, these people are galvanized and ready.”
Enrique Tarrio, former leader of the Proud Boys who also saw his conviction pardoned, has hinted at retribution for those who investigated him or the January 6 insurrection.
When asked by Scripps News if he is worried that his father may commit some kind of violence against him or others as revenge for his imprisonment, Jackson says, “Of course I fear that. I don't know if it's going to happen, but you know, I have that strict paranoia,” he said.
Jackson fears that Trump’s pardon has “validated” his father’s feelings about January 6 and that his father will be “at his [Trump’s] bidding.”
Jackson’s mother, Nicole has been with her husband Guy in Washington since his release and told Scripps News on the phone that she has not tried to reach out to Jackson because she knew he was feeling uncomfortable about his father’s release and wanted to give Jackson his space.
Her message for her son is that they love Jackson very much and his father doesn’t want to hurt him.
“As time goes on, he’s going to realize that there is no ill will,” she says, adding that when Jackson is ready to talk, “we are here with open arms. That’s how we’ve been through all of this and that’s how we’ll continue to do. I don’t want to lose my son through this and I’ll wait as long as we need to.”
When asked if her husband may rejoin a militia group now that is free, Nicole said no.
“We have to really rebuild our lives so that’s not really a priority, but our country is based in militia. Our founders wanted to make sure that’s a real thing,” she said, adding, “But no, there’s no plan for Guy to rejoin anything like that.”
For now, Jackson is focused on his support community and therapy but “of course at some point” he’ll reach out and speak with his mother and father.
“But now is not the time," he said. "My priority is keeping safe.”
