A Texas man who joined the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol was found guilty for his role in the attack on Tuesday, a milestone victory for federal prosecutors in the first such case to go before a jury.
Guy Reffitt was found guilty on all five of the felony charges he faced, including bringing a gun on to Capitol grounds and obstructing an official proceeding.
Reffitt's trial was seen as an important test case as the US Justice Department attempts to secure the convictions of hundreds of people allegedly involved in the attack who have not taken plea deals.
The federal jury in Washington returned the unanimous verdict after two hours of deliberation.
Reffitt, who is currently in custody, will learn the length of his prison sentence at a court hearing scheduled for June 8. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Reffitt never entered the Capitol, but video showed him egging on the crowd and leading other rioters up a set of stairs outside the building.
Wearing a bulletproof vest and a helmet, Reffitt continued up the staircase even as police officers pelted him with pepper balls and doused him with chemical spray.
In a video clip played for jurors, Reffitt repeatedly urged rioters to drag House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress out of the Capitol building.
“I didn't come here to play — I'm taking the Capitol,” the video showed Reffitt saying at one point. “I just want to see Pelosi's head hitting every stair on the way out.”
Prosecutors also accused Reffitt of threatening his teenage children with harm if they turned him into authorities after the attack.
Reffitt's estranged son Jackson turned his father into the FBI and gave evidence against him during the week-long trial.
“He said, 'If you turn me in, you're a traitor,'” Jackson Reffitt told jurors. "'And traitors get shot.'”
About 200 people have already pleaded guilty to charges relating to the attack, which sent members of Congress and staff running for their lives.
The accused face charges including unlawful picketing and seditious conspiracy, with which 11 people affiliated with the right-wing group the Oath Keepers were charged in January.
Thousands of people stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, after a fiery speech in which Mr Trump claimed his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud — an assertion rejected by multiple courts, state election officials and members of his own administration.
US attorney general vows to hold all January 6 perpetrators accountable
