Washington – After two days of intense interviews, a jury of eight men and eight women has been selected in the criminal case of Guy Reffitt, the first January 6 defendant who will stand trial. Twelve will serve as jurors, and the remaining four will be alternates.
They will decide whether the Texas father and member of the Three Percenters militia group is guilty of five crimes stemming from his alleged participation in the attack on the U.S. Capitol a little more than a year ago.
The jurors include a materials scientist, a Walgreens cashier, and an employee of the D.C. public school system.
Reffitt, of Wylie, Texas is accused of transporting a rifle and a semi-automatic handgun to Washington, D.C., and then carrying the handgun onto U.S. Capitol grounds, where he allegedly participated in the January 6 riot and threatened law enforcement officers.
He’s one of only a handful of defendants accused of carrying a firearm on Capitol grounds.
Reffitt is also charged with obstruction of justice, illegally entering the Capitol complex, and obstructing Congress’ counting of the 2020 Electoral College votes — a process that ultimately affirmed Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the presidential election.
And after the Capitol attack, investigators say Reffitt then traveled back to Texas, where his wife and children live, and talked about his membership in the mob that overran the Capitol.
Reffitt allegedly told his son and daughter, “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor — and you know what happens to traitors…Traitors get shot,” according to conversations investigators had with Reffitt’s spouse, as described in court documents.
He pleaded not guilty to all five counts and has made a number of unsuccessful attempts to have some of the charges dismissed.
Reffitt and his attorney, along with prosecutors and federal Judge Dabney Friedrich, spoke with more than 50 potential jurors.
They questioned whether a chorus singer should be forced to miss Ash Wednesday services because of the uncertain court schedule, whether a professional soccer team owner’s family connection to the Trump administration could cause bias and whether two employees of the Architect of the Capitol – the office charged with upholding the structural integrity of the U.S. Capitol Building – could be impartial, given the nature of their work. One of the two employees was selected to serve on the jury and says he will be leaving his post after only a few months on the job. He was not employed at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Ultimately, the attorneys and Friedrich determined the group would consist of multiple jurors who admitted that although they had some knowledge of the January 6 attack, they were not specifically familiar with Reffit’s case.
“I certainly have feelings,” about the attack, one selected juror said during questioning, before adding, “I don’t think it would affect my impartiality.”
And although another said his general views of January 6 were “exceedingly negative,” he said he did not know enough about Reffitt’s case to form an opinion about whether he was guilty.
At least 4 of the 16 selected to serve either as a juror or alternate said they were familiar with more notable January 6 defendants, like Jacob Chansley, the so-called QAnon Shaman.
Finding D.C. residents who had relatively unbiased opinions of the January 6 Capitol breach posed a challenge from the start, a reality the judge and attorneys alike conceded as they decided instead to try to find jurors who had not reached a conclusion about Reffitt’s guilt before the trial began.
“I think that anybody that went in there was already guilty…I think everyone should be prosecuted to the max,” said one disqualified individual. “As soon as I heard January 6 rioter, I heard ‘guilty’ in my head,” declared another dismissed for bias.
Like other January 6 defendants, Reffitt tried unsuccessfully to move his high-profile trial out of the nation’s capital, arguing the potential jury pool of residents was primed to declare an alleged rioter guilty without considering the defense’s argument.
In a September 2021 court filing, Reffitt’s defense said, “There are so many stories that some are dispassionate and factual, but many others that are editorial and inflammatory. District residents have been bombarded with constant coverage of the January 6th events, arrests, and criminal charges.” He lost the legal battle to transfer his case to a Texas court after prosecutors opposed the motion.
Opening statements are set to begin Wednesday morning.
Scott MacFarlane contributed to this report.
