A Texas man who was the first January 6 protester to go to trial was resentenced to nearly seven years in prison, the Associated Press reported.
Guy Reffitt’s resentencing comes after a U.S. Supreme Court resulted in the dismissal of obstruction charges.
“To prove a violation of Section 1512(c)(2), the Government must establish that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or as we earlier explained, other things used in the proceeding, or attempted to do so,” the Supreme Court wrote in June. “See supra, at 9. The judgment of the D. C. Circuit is therefore vacated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
As U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich and a prosecutor described Reffitt’s role during the 2021 event, the Texas man said, “I was not there to take over no government.”
“I love this country,” he said.
According to the AP, prosecutors said that Reffitt’s communications from jail suggest he “views his imprisonment as an injustice and as part of a greater cause, and that he maintains pride in actions on January 6 and his involvement in the community of those who he believes have been wrongly prosecuted for their crimes on that day.”
Reffitt has been convicted of four other counts, including a charge that he made threats against his children.
Last month, a judge dismissed the charges against President-elect Donald Trump related to the January 6, 2021, protest. Presiding U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan of Washington, D.C., granted Special Counsel Jack Smith’s motion to dismiss the charges.
