U.S. prosecutors for the first time have charged a defendant in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach with violating a federal law that makes it a crime to transport a firearm or explosive for unlawful use in a riot.
The rare weapons charge was handed up Wednesday in a five-count superseding indictment against Guy Wesley Reffitt, 48, who prosecutors say brought a rifle and semiautomatic handgun to Washington and recruited members to a right-wing Texas Three Percenters group claiming he had created a new security business to circumvent gun laws.
“We can get ammo and weapons available to law enforcement. . . . The fight has only just begun,” Reffitt allegedly wrote, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Nestler said earlier this year. Continue reading.