Guy Reffitt has officially been sentenced to 87 months for storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun helmet while dressed in body armor during the 2021 attack, AP News reports.
He is the first person to go on trial for the attack, which took place Jan. 6, 2021 when then-President Donald Trump was preparing to exit the White House following his loss to President Joe Biden during the 2020 election.
Per court documents, Reffitt has received the longest sentence following the Capitol riots. Before him, two men who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers during the attack were sentenced to five years and three months.
His attorney, Clinton Broden, initially asked for the sentencing to be no more than two years in prison, noting that Reffitt did not assault any law enforcement officials or enter the Capitol building.
On the other hand, videos show Capitol police officers outnumbered by a mob of people, including Reffitt. He is also seen approaching the officials in the clip.
Although Reffitt didn’t testify before he was convicted on all five counts of his indictment in March, his 19-year-old son took the stand during the sentencing.
According to his son, Jackson, Reffitt told his children that they would be “traitors” for reporting him to authorities. Per the testimony, he also told them that “traitors get shot.”
Additionally, court filings also report that Reffitt, who belongs to the Texas Three Percenters militia, planned to drag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the Capitol building by her ankles.
At the time he said he would carry out the act with Pelosi’s “head hitting every step on the way down.”
Along with serving more than seven years in prison, Reffitt was sentenced to three years of supervised release after his term, and U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution.