MAGA rioter's militia friend tells jury he brought zip ties with him to Capitol
Accused MAGA rioter Guy Reffitt faced more damning testimony on Friday, this time from a former member of the Texas Three Percenters militia.
NBC News reports that former Three Percenter Rocky Hardie told the jury that Reffitt brought a handgun and some zip ties with him as he stormed the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
According to BuzzFeed News reporter Zoe Tillman, Hardie said that he asked Reffitt why he needed the zip ties, and Reffitt replied that he was bringing them along in case they needed to "detain" someone at the Capitol.
Hardie also acknowledged that he and Reffitt "joked" about grabbing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and dragging her by her feet down the steps of the Capitol.
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Prosecutors also revealed during Friday's testimony that Reffitt sent around a series of panicked text messages after he learned law enforcement officers were interviewing members of the Texas Three Percenters in the days after the Capitol riots.
"This is not a drill," Reffitt wrote to other Three Percenters on January 10th, 2021. "Be prepared. The sh*t is now hitting the fan. Start purge of all previous conversations."
That last line is key to the prosecutors' case that Reffitt tried to obstruct justice, as it amounts to soliciting for the destruction of evidence.
