Despite Threat, Son Told FBI About Father's Role in Riot

A Texas man arrested for his role in the Capitol riot had threatened to shoot his "traitor" children if they turned him in, according to the FBI. But Guy Reffitt didn't know that 18-year-old son Jackson had reported him to the FBI weeks earlier, the New York Times reports. Jackson Reffitt says his father, whose wife told investigators he was a member of the far-right Three Percenters militia, had been threatening to do "something big." "I assumed he was going to do something big, and I didn't know what," he says. Reffitt says that when he was contacted by the FBI after the Jan. 6 riot, he helped "prove what they were trying to investigate" and confirmed that his father, who appeared in news footage from the Capitol, had been involved. He says his father's views have become more radical over the years.

Guy Reffitt, 48, was arrested Jan. 16 on charges including knowingly entering a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority. Jackson Reffitt says he hopes he can rebuild his relationship with his father "over time." He tells Fox 4 that he informed on his father to avoid a possible confrontation with law enforcement. "The police could’ve come in at any time, at a bad time, regardless of the situation and my dad could’ve opened fire," he says. On a GoFundMe page, he says people asked him to start the fundraiser after a CNN appearance. "Every penny is another course in college or me saving it for years to come. I might be kicked out of my house due to my involvement in my dad's case, so every cent might help me survive," writes Reffitt, who has now raised more than $80,000. (More Capitol riot stories.)