ANALYSIS: Issues Abound As Trump Appointed Decide Refuses DOJ’s Terrorism Statute for 1/6 Defendant And Sentences Him To Simply 7+ Years
On Monday, Decide Dabney Friedrich declined to permit the DOJ enhanced sentencing beneath the terrorism statute for January sixth defendant Man Reffitt, 49 of Wylie, Texas who was affiliated with the Texas Three Percenters, and sentenced him to half of the time in jail that the DOJ requested.
New: Within the sentencing listening to of Jan 6 defendant Man Reffitt, federal decide DENIES prosecutors’ makes an attempt to boost the sentence beneath a terrorism statute.
Decide Friedrich says she is doing so partly bc of different severe Jan 6 circumstances through which the gov didn’t search the rise.
— Rob Legare (@RobLegare) August 1, 2022
The Decide expressed concern that as a result of the federal government had not beforehand sought so as to add enhancement of sentencing beneath the terrorism statute, it may trigger “unwarranted sentencing disparity.”
This ignores the testimony of police being physically assaulted by a mob encouraged by Reffitt, in addition to the truth that he had a handgun on his particular person whereas on the Capitol assault. Not the entire January sixth defendants dedicated the identical degree of assault on the federal government, so this “reasoning” appears specious and ill-judged.
The prosecution famous, “‘We imagine the defendant introduced extra gear than virtually anyone else’ who’s going to sentencing, AUSA Jeffrey Nestler says,” based on WUSA9’s Jordan Fisher. Fisher added later that Man Reffitt informed a number of folks he “lit the match” on January sixth and bragged that nobody else was going up the steps till he did…. AUSA Nestler: ‘He was making an attempt to take over our authorities. He wasn’t simply making an attempt to cease the vote… the terrorism enhancement is warranted by all of these components. Not simply the defendant’s conduct on Jan. 6, however afterward.’”
The Decide appeared to work extra time because the protection, even positing that whereas Reffitt wished to be first to cost, that doesn’t make him a “chief.”
Prosecutor: “He wanted the group behind him … and he received it”
Decide: Reffitt desires to be the primary to storm the Capitol and the primary to go to trial… “however does that make him a frontrunner?”
Prosecutors present photograph of mob with Reffitt out in entrance of crowds of “100s if not 1000s”
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) August 1, 2022
MacFarlane continued, “Prosecutor: Reffitt later bragged of his function in entrance of mob. ‘Controlling, inflicting, inducing different folks to do what he wished them to do’.”
Whereas Reffitt got here to DC with an AR-15 and a loaded pistol, the protection argued that he left his AK-47 in a automotive in Georgetown. We’re purported to really feel grateful for this?
The DOJ sought a fifteen-year sentence for Reffitt. Reffitt was found guilty of multiple felonies, as the government said he carried a loaded gun onto Capitol grounds, led the charge against law enforcement, and sought to obstruct justice later.
Domestic terrorism is defined because the “beneath 18 U.S. Code § 2331 as “acts harmful to human life” that happen primarily inside U.S. territory and are meant “(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian inhabitants; (ii) to affect the coverage of a authorities by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to have an effect on the conduct of a authorities by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.”
On March 8, 2022 Reffitt was discovered responsible by a federal jury “of civil dysfunction, obstruction of justice, and different felony fees for his actions earlier than, throughout, and after the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His and others’ actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to determine and rely the electoral votes associated to the presidential election.”
Notice the necessary language about his disruption of the joint session of Congress convened to rely the electoral votes for the 2020 election.
Decide Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, sought to position accountability for Reffitt’s actions on “psychological well being” points regardless of the truth that whereas folks with psychological well being points do enact violence, it’s comparatively unusual.
CBS Information Congressional Correspondent Scott MacFarlane shared:
Prosecutor, beneath questioning from decide, refers to Jan 6 circumstances as circumstances “concerning the assault on our democracy”
Necessary framing for this case… and the general investigation of Jan 6
Prosecutor mentions “unlawful gun silencer” at Reffitt residence after Jan 6. And prosecutor mentions allegation I referenced atop thread: Reffitt allegedly fired a gun close to his spouse after brandishing it in 2020
Decide calls it “insane” incident towards a spouse Reffitt “clearly loves
Decide Dabney Friedrich says there are clearly psychological well being points in Reffitt’s case. “Arguably his psychological well being situation contributed to this offense.”
Prosecutor responds: “we don’t imagine the defendant’s psychological well being contributed to the offense”
It is a wedge between prosecutors and decide at this second.
Prosecutor: “He would profit from psychological well being remedy.”
Decide: “His actions seem unhinged at instances”
The American Psychological Association seeks to teach folks about this psychological well being false impression:
… (P)eople typically imagine that individuals with psychological sickness are largely liable for incidents of mass violence and that individuals with psychological sickness are liable for a big share of neighborhood violence. But each views have been roundly debunked by analysis, says Swanson.
“We have to do some severe myth-busting round these concepts,” he says, “as a result of folks imagine them, they usually have actual penalties.”
Certainly.
This perspective is regarding as a result of it’s based mostly on fable and moreover, we don’t see this “concern” or “excuse” for legal conduct utilized equally beneath the legislation for Black folks. If, for instance, Reffitt have been a Muslim who participated in and incited a home terrorist assault on this nation in addition to threatening his wife with a gun (she corroborated this and clarified it occurred twice, not as soon as, and he or she can also be defending him in sentencing in the present day), I don’t suppose we’d be listening to about his psychological well being as a motive to be lenient on him.
Friedrich additionally demonstrated a really troubling ignorance about home violence, not to mention the connection between DV and different violent assaults.
The Decide repeatedly dismissed Reffitt’s alleged threats against his children and his alleged pulling of a gun twice on his spouse, together with one time firing it close to her head, saying that he will need to have psychological well being points as a result of he so clearly loves his spouse.
MacFarlane’s Twitter thread continued:
Decide is repeatedly expressing concern about allegation of Reffitt firing gun close to his spouse’s head in 2020. However couches her concern saying Reffitt “clearly” loves spouse
Decide is troubled by Reffitt’s references to “1776”
Protection: Reffitt doesn’t wish to put his household via struggling. And says his concern about household makes Reffitt much less prone to offend sooner or later
There’s loads of incorrect info being utilized by this Decide to find out how you can rule on this sentencing. She should be made aware that “a lady is 400% extra prone to be killed by an abuser if there’s a gun within the residence.”
It’s right here that Judge Friedrich having not only dated Justice Brett Kavanaugh, but having dismissed a tip against him and vouched for his character comes into play. (Reminder: There were 4,500 tips against Kavanaugh that the FBI never investigated.) The accusations in opposition to Kavanaugh had extra benefit than we hear about and have been corroborated by a number of witnesses.
There’s a connection between home violence and sexual assault, and the varieties of people that justify each or on the very least allow it by denying it are the varieties of people that write off home violence as a psychological well being situation and suppose it doesn’t make sense as a result of the person “loves” his spouse.
This defendant “traveled to Washington with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and a Smith & Wesson pistol.” He clearly owns weapons and has already threatened his spouse with a gun. He ranted about desirous to hurt Speaker Pelosi.
Man Reffitt’s son Jackson Reffitt testified in opposition to him throughout the trial, and actually he tipped the FBI off before the domestic terrorist attack. Jackson testified that he tipped the FBI off in December 2020 about his father’s January 6th plans.
There’s a relationship between home violence and mass shootings, which I’m extrapolating to increase to a home terrorist assault that concerned the transportation of a number of weapons as a result of the federal government doesn’t make public the traits of home violence perpetrators. The need to manage an final result shares the driving drive behind intimate accomplice violence, nonetheless, and that’s coercive management. Some forms of domestic violence are qualified as “intimate terrorism.”
we don’t have research on home terrorism and home violence, however it could be reckless to disregard the information we do have.
“Greater than two-thirds of mass shootings are home violence incidents or are perpetrated by shooters with a historical past of home violence, based on one of many first peer-reviewed analysis papers exploring the hyperlinks between home violence (DV) and mass shootings. The paper additionally finds that DV-related mass shootings are related to increased fatality charges than mass shootings unrelated to DV,” a research commissioned by the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence discovered.
Reffitt was sentenced to seven plus years:
ALERT: Decide Dabney Freidrich sentences Man Reffitt to 87 months. (7+ years). That’s roughly half of the 15-year sentence prosecutors had requested
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) August 1, 2022
The circumstances of Reffitt’s launch have been already mentioned and it provides slap-on-the-wrist vibes. Examples include, “Studying first about among the circumstances for Man Reffitt’s eventual supervised launch. It’s going to embody an order prohibiting him from contacting or associating with any members of an extremist group, together with the Texas Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, and Texas Freedom Power.”
This decide is hardly the one decide to be woefully misinformed about a number of points for which there are research and information. Nonetheless, her use of incorrect mythology surrounding psychological well being, home violence, and even home terrorism is noteworthy as a result of it seems an unjust software of the legislation and one which stands to depart Reffitt’s spouse and youngsters in danger, in addition to additional hurt to our democracy given his promise to proceed on along with his 2020 election combat.
It additionally harms folks of colour who’re handled like harmful criminals whereas merely strolling by neighborhoods. Any failure to use the legislation equally is a grave injustice and solely by pointing it out can we make progress. The identical compassion being proven to a white man who attacked his authorities and his personal spouse ought to both be prolonged to all or he must be handled as folks with darker pores and skin are.
The federal government might want to deliver on psychological well being specialists to dispel this harmful and inaccurate fable in future courtroom proceedings with the January sixth defendants.
Ms. Jones is the co-founder/ editor-in-chief of PoliticusUSA and a member of the White Home press pool.
Sarah hosts Politicus Information and co-hosts Politicus Radio. Her evaluation has been featured on a number of nationwide radio, tv information packages and discuss reveals, and print retailers together with Stateside with David Shuster, in addition to The Washington Submit, The Atlantic Wire, CNN, MSNBC, The Week, The Hollywood Reporter, and extra.
Sarah is a member of the Society of Skilled Journalists.
