“Wade will usually clarify the ‘emergency actions’ that the USSS took in response to the riot: relocating Vice President Pence and his members of the family, bringing further USSS personnel to the Capitol, and relocating the Vice President’s motorcade,” prosecutors say.
The witnesses additionally embrace three Capitol Cops who say they tried to cease Reffitt’s advance with pepper balls and chemical spray.
Sgt. Adam DesCamp, Sgt. Matthew Flood and Officer Shauni Kerkhoff are anticipated to explain confronting Reffitt outdoors the Capitol in addition to calling for and deploying their non-lethal weapons towards him. Their testimony will likely be supported by surveillance video clips, radio clips and photographs taken of their interactions with Reffitt.
A fourth Capitol Police official, Inspector Monique Moore, can be slated to testify. Moore oversaw the division’s command middle that day and prosecutors say she’s going to focus on the riot’s general impression on the division, in addition to its impact on the continuing effort by Congress to depend Electoral School votes.
The witness listing additionally reveals that jurors will get a historical past lesson on the Electoral Depend Act from former Senate aide Daniel Schwager, who was counsel to the secretary of the Senate on Jan. 6, 2021, and was on the Senate ground when rioters broke into the constructing and compelled them to evacuate. Schwager, prosecutors say, will clarify to jurors how the Jan. 6 session of Congress labored and its significance in finalizing the outcomes of presidential elections.
The witness listing underscores the complexity of the case prosecutors should lay out to ascertain proof past an affordable doubt that Reffitt breached Capitol grounds with the intent of disrupting Congress’ Electoral School counting session — and that his actions contributed to interrupting that course of. To try this, jurors should have an understanding of the difficult Jan. 6 proceedings and complex procedures adopted by the Capitol Police, the Secret Service and the FBI.
Reffitt’s case is likely one of the extra uncommon to emerge from the Capitol riot partially due to his household’s function. He was one of many first rioters arrested and charged with felonies after the Jan. 6 assault and has been held in pretrial detention for practically a 12 months.
Reffitt’s trial is slated to start Feb. 28 and might be the primary arising from the Capitol assault to come back earlier than a jury. However federal trials have been in flux and repeatedly postponed because the courts grapple with Covid-related restrictions and delays. Judges have emphasised they intend to prioritize trials for detained defendants like Reffitt.
The Justice Division revealed it plans to name Reffitt’s two kids — together with his son Jackson Reffitt, who reported his father to the FBI in December 2020 after which secretly recorded him after he returned dwelling from Washington in January 2021. Jackson Reffitt has publicly talked about his efforts in variousmedia interviews over the previous 12 months.
Each of Reffitt’s kids are anticipated to testify about what the federal government has described as threats their father made to his household to stop them from reporting him to federal investigators.
As well as, prosecutors say they may name a fellow member of the Three Percenter militia group that Reffitt was a part of. This affiliate “traveled with the defendant from Texas to Washington, D.C., and again between January 4 and eight, 2021,” they are saying.
“He’ll testify about how he is aware of the defendant, discussions he had with the defendant, their journey preparations, the defendant’s firearms and tactical gear, and the defendant’s actions and actions.”
The witness, solely recognized as R.H. within the new submitting, was granted immunity in alternate for his testimony.