Reports that Matter

Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol · 2022

8.5 The Mob Surges

Section 90 of 104

8.5 The Mob Surges

Far-right extremists continued to lead the charge as protestors streamed onto the U.S. Capitol’s restricted grounds. On the north side of the West Plaza, there was a scaffold with stairs used by construction workers to build the inauguration stage. Law enforcement officers were stationed at the base of the stairs, preventing rioters from climbing to the upper West Plaza, where doors to the Capitol building itself were located. At 1:49 p.m., MPD declared a riot at the Capitol.136 Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (District of Columbia Production), MPD 125–MPD 126 (District of Columbia, Metropolitan Police Department, Transcript of Radio Calls, January 6, 2021).

Rioters clash with police at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images

Shortly before 1:50 p.m., rioters gathered in front of this scaffold on the northwest corner of the Capitol. The rioters included Proud Boys and other extremists. One rioter, Guy Reffitt, belonged to a Three Percenter group from Texas.137 Government’s Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Detention of Defendant Guy Wesley Reffitt at 4, United States v. Reffitt, No. 1:21-cr-32 (D.D.C. Mar. 13, 2021), ECF No. 10. By approximately 1:50 p.m., he stood at the front of the pack near the scaffold, carrying a pistol and flexicuffs.138 See Government’s Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Detention of Defendant Guy Wesley Reffitt at 4–5, United States v. Reffitt, No. 1:21-cr-00032 (D.D.C. Mar. 13, 2021), ECF No. 10. He wore body armor under a blue jacket and a helmet with a mounted body camera.139 See Government’s Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Detention of Defendant Guy Wesley Reffitt at 4–5, United States v. Reffitt, No. 1:21-cr-00032 (D.D.C. Mar. 13, 2021), ECF No. 10.

Reffitt advanced on the police line, absorbing rubber bullets and pushing through chemical spray.140 See Government’s Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Detention of Defendant Guy Wesley Reffitt at 5, United States v. Reffitt, No. 1:21-cr-00032 (D.D.C. Mar. 13, 2021), ECF No. 10. As he recounted shortly after the attack, Reffitt got “everything started moving forward.”141 See Government’s Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Detention of Defendant Guy Wesley Reffitt at 5, United States v. Reffitt, No. 1:21-cr-00032 (D.D.C. Mar. 13, 2021), ECF No. 10. He “started the fire” and the presence of law enforcement was not going to prevent Reffitt’s advance.142 See Government’s Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Detention of Defendant Guy Wesley Reffitt at 5, United States v. Reffitt, No. 1:21-cr-00032 (D.D.C. Mar. 13, 2021), ECF No. 10. According to Reffitt:

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[T]here was no reason for me to give up because I had come so far to do what I wanted, what we wanted and needed to do. And I had a mindset. I didn’t mean to actually be the first guy up there. I didn’t even mean to do that. I just, the adrenaline and knowing that I can’t let my country fall.143 See Government’s Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Detention of Defendant Guy Wesley Reffitt at 6, United States v. Reffitt, No. 1:21-cr-00032 (D.D.C. Mar. 13, 2021), ECF No. 10.

Reffitt had indeed planned for violence on January 6th, noting on December 28, 2020, that he would “be in full battle rattle.”144 See Government’s Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Detention of Defendant Guy Wesley Reffitt at 12, United States v. Reffitt, No. 1:21-cr-00032 (D.D.C. Mar. 13, 2021), ECF No. 10. While driving to Washington, DC on January 5th, Reffitt expressed his desire to “drag[] those people out of the Capitol by their ankles” and “install[] a new government.”145 See Government’s Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Detention of Defendant Guy Wesley Reffitt at 4, United States v. Reffitt, No. 1:21-cr-32 (D.D.C. Mar. 13, 2021), ECF No. 10. On the morning of January 6th, Reffitt clarified the target, telling “other members of his militia group and those gathered around him” at the Ellipse that “I’m taking the Capitol with everybody fucking else” and that “[w]e’re all going to drag them mother fuckers out kicking and screaming . . . . I just want to see Pelosi’s head hit every fucking stair on the way out . . . And Mitch McConnell too. Fuck ’em all.”146 Government’s Sentencing Memorandum, United States v. Reffitt, No. 1:21-cr-32 (D.D.C. July 15, 2022), ECF No. 158. Reffitt was convicted and ultimately sentenced to 7 years in prison for his conduct.147 See Spencer S. Hsu and Tom Jackman, “First Jan. 6 Defendant Convicted at Trial Receives Longest Sentence of 7 Years,” Washington Post, (Aug. 1, 2022), available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/01/reffitt-sentence-jan6/.

A member of the Proud Boys, Daniel Scott, helped lead the charge up the scaffolding stairs.148 See Statement of Facts at ¶¶ 14, 20, United States v. Scott, No. 1:21-mj-411 (D.D.C. April 29, 2021), ECF No. 1-1, available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1395876/download. Scott, also known as Milkshake, had marched with the Proud Boys from the Washington Monument to the Capitol. During the march, Scott was recorded in a video yelling, “Let’s take the fucking Capitol!”149 See Statement of Facts at ¶ 16, United States v. Scott, No. 1:21-mj-411 (D.D.C. April 29, 2021), ECF No. 1-1, available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1395876/download. Someone else responded, “Let’s not fucking yell that, alright?” And then Nordean added: “It was Milkshake, man, you know . . . idiot.” Scott had apparently blurted out the Proud Boys’ plan. At the scaffolding, Scott then helped others “take” the U.S. Capitol. While wearing a blue cap with white lettering that read, “Gods, Guns & Trump,” he pushed police officers backwards, clearing a path for the rioters. Another Proud Boy, Chris Worrell, was also nearby.150 Statement of Facts at 9, United States v. Worrell, No. 1:21-mj-296 (D.D.C. Mar. 10, 2021), ECF No. 1-1, available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1379556/download. As rioters massed under the scaffold, Worrell sprayed officers with OC (or pepper) spray.151 Statement of Facts at 10–11, United States v. Worrell, No. 1:21-mj-296 (D.D.C. Mar. 10, 2021), ECF No. 1-1, available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1379556/download. Other Proud Boys were present at the scaffold, including Micajah Jackson152 Statement of Offense at ¶ 9, United States v. Jackson, No. 1:21-cr-484 (D.D.C. Nov. 22, 2021), ECF No. 19, available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1452291/download. and Matthew Greene.153 Statement of Offense at ¶¶ 1, 25, United States v. Greene, No. 1:21-cr-52-33 (D.D.C. Dec. 22, 2021), ECF No. 105, available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1458266/download.

The attack at and in the vicinity of the scaffolding cleared a path for a wave of rioters who forced their way up the stairs and to the U.S. Capitol building itself.154 Lena Groeger, Jeff Kao, Al Shaw, Moiz Syed and Maya Eliahou, “What Parler Saw During the Attack on the Capitol,” ProPublica, (Jan. 17, 2021), available at https://projects.propublica.org/parler-capitol-videos/?id=zOZ8CgfNU1SY. As the rioters rushed up the stairs, another January 6th defendant, Ryan Kelley, climbed up the scaffolding around 1:51 p.m.155 Statement of Facts at 5, United States v. Kelley, No. 1:22-cr-222 (D.D.C. June 8, 2022), ECF No. 1. In the ensuing minutes he waved people on, encouraging them to follow.156 Statement of Facts at 6, United States v. Kelley, No. 1:22-cr-222 (D.D.C. June 8, 2022), ECF No. 1. Kelley—who ran in the Republican primary to be the governor of Michigan in 2022—denied to the Select Committee that he had climbed the scaffolding to wave people on.157 See Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Ryan Kelley, (Apr. 21, 2022), pp. 7, 70–71, 79–80, and Exhibit 15. The FBI arrested Kelley a few months after his deposition.158 Arrest Warrant at 1, United States v. Kelley, No. 1:22-cr-222 (D.D.C. June 9, 2022), ECF No. 5.

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By 2:00 p.m., rioters at the top of the scaffolding stairs were only feet away from Capitol building doors and windows.