A teenager who turned his father over to the authorities following his participation in the deadly Capitol riot on January 6 has said it was the right thing to do and he’d do it again.
Jackson Reffitt, who is 18-years-old, spoke to CNN‘s Chris Cuomo on Friday about his decision to turn in his father, Guy Reffitt, for his role in the riot and threatening his family by saying “traitors get shot.”
Cuomo asked Reffitt to explain why he chose to take action in an emotional interview where the teen alluded to former President Donald Trump but didn’t mention him by name.
“I don’t really know how to explain it,” Reffitt said. “It was just, it just felt like the right thing regardless of my emotions and how I felt and how much I loved my family and my dad. I was worried.
“I didn’t think he would actually do anything bad. But him saying anything even remotely threatening to me and my sister and my family and government officials, it was just too much.”
Reffitt said his father had become increasingly involved with online conspiracy theories and militia groups over the past four years and had discussed the impending collapse of the country.
“Would he talk to you about it?” Cuomo asked.
“No,” Reffitt said. “I actually never even knew he was going to D.C. until the day he left. I am sure it was because of my political views, but I’m not sure.”
He went on to say that he was “kind of on my own in my family right now” regarding his views on his father but explained that he still loved and cared about him.
Reffitt did not mention former President Donald Trump by name but said: “Obviously the man in charge at the time, I feel like, just really manipulated him into thinking what he is thinking now.”
“I’m obviously not sure about that, but I can’t know for sure. That’s the only thing I can blame this — the politics he follows and idolizes,” he said.
“I do think what he was doing he thought was right, but in the end what he was doing was not right, for himself or his family or the country even,” Reffitt said. “And I hope he realizes that soon enough. And if i could say to him right now, I would want to say I’m sorry what I’ve done, but I did think it was right as well”
“Would you do it again?” Cuomo asked, eliciting a pause from the teen.
“Yeah. I’d definitely do it again,” Reffitt replied.
The riot at the Capitol left five people dead, including a police officer, and hundreds of people may face charges arising from it. More than 25,000 National Guard troops were deployed to Washington, D.C., as a result.
The Capitol dome is seen beyond a security fence on January 17, in Washington, D.C. After last week’s riots at the U.S. Capitol Building, the FBI has warned of additional threats in the nation’s capital and in all 50 states. Teenager Jackson Reffitt turned his father in to authorities over his involvement in the riot. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
