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Left: Jan. 6 rioters during the 2021 Capitol attack (Department of Justice). Right: President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak at a meeting of the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
When Jackson Reffitt, son of Jan. 6 rioter Guy Reffitt — the very first defendant tried for the Capitol attack — found out his father was actually getting a pardon from President Donald Trump last week, one thought came to his mind: “Pure paranoia.”
Jackson, 22, turned his dad into federal law enforcement after the U.S. Capitol riot and was reportedly fearful of his political views and alleged connections to members of far-right militia groups, including Stewart Rhodes — the now-pardoned leader of the Oath Keepers, with whom Guy Reffitt has been photographed. Jackson allegedly told the FBI ahead of Jan. 6 that he thought his father would do something extreme at the Capitol or in Washington, D.C., in response to the 2020 presidential election and Joe Biden’s win over Trump. After Guy Reffitt’s arrest, Jackson says he was bombarded with threats and online posts that forced him to move multiple times and buy a firearm for his safety. Now, he must deal with his dad coming home.
“Clearly, he’s gotten more and more radicalized and justified and validated himself, which is just terrifying to see,” Jackson Reffitt told Scripps News last Tuesday. “I think now, we all know what it has led to and what has already happened in the past couple of days. You know, these people are galvanized and ready.”
Asked if he was worried his dad would retaliate, Jackson Reffitt said: “Of course I fear that. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but you know, I have that strict paranoia.” He told Scripps he was “sitting there melting into (his) couch” when he saw the official news about Trump’s pardons going through.
“Just focusing, hyper fixating on it,” Jackson said. “That was my reaction … just, you know, pure paranoia of what’s going to happen.”
Guy Reffitt is seen on U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021. (Images via FBI court filing.)
Craig Sicknick, brother of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick — who was attacked and assaulted during the Jan. 6 riot, leading to a series of deadly strokes the next day — is reportedly feeling those same fears.
“I feel that my brother died in vain and that our nation has a very long and dark road ahead of it,” Craig Sicknick told NJ.com last Tuesday. “As far as I am concerned, the U.S. just installed its first dictator. We didn’t learn from Germany’s mistakes and put a convicted felon in power, this time with no guardrails as Congress, SCOTUS, and any White House staff will never openly oppose him.”
Metro Police officer Daniel Hodges, who was attacked by a mob of Jan. 6 rioters while working during the attack, described his fears to reporters in Florida at a Jan. 22 press conference, during which he was joined by other officers.
“The people who attacked us on Jan. 6 are free now,” Hodges said. “They can try it again and they’ll know if they try it again in the next four years, they know they’ll get pardoned.”
During the Jan. 6 attack, Hodges said he was “beaten, crushed, kicked” and “punched” by the angry mob of rioters. “Someone reached underneath my visor and tried to gouge out my eye,” he said Wednesday, calling Trump “pure evil” for issuing the pardons.
“All these people were just pardoned by Donald Trump, who says that they were the real victims,” Hodges said. “Accepting a pardon is no longer an admission of guilt, but is simply a pragmatic defense against a Justice Department that is no longer about justice.”
While family members of rioters and victims are scared of what’s to come, the opposite can be said about the people they’re fearful of.
Speaking to reporters on Monday night, Jan. 6 defendants Kenneth Fuller and his 22-year-old son Caleb Fuller popped champagne and rejoiced about the Trump pardons after learning that their felony charges had been scrubbed clean.
“I didn’t see anyone get hurt,” Caleb Fuller said, according to Reuters. “So I feel like everyone that was around me is deserving of a pardon.”
Kimberly Dragoo, a Missouri woman who was convicted for participating in Jan. 6 with her husband Steven Dragoo, issued both a warning and message of celebration to her friends and followers on Facebook, saying she “survived four years of relentless, lawless attacks” following the Capitol attack.
“So don’t underestimate me or where I stand when it comes to defending our country and right versus wrong,” Dragoo said. “Most people fall in line like sheep. COVID proved that. Treasonous actors cost millions of lives, and almost everyone went along with it. I didn’t. Even under the weight of a weaponized pandemic and the threat of imprisonment, I stood firm. I endured more pressure and nonsense than most people can imagine, and I didn’t blink. I am a f—ing warrior.”