Trump Used Our Family Like ‘Disposable Pawns,’ Daughter of Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter Says

The daughter of a Jan. 6 rioter is speaking out against former President Donald Trump, claiming he used her family as “disposable pawns.”

Eighteen-year-old Peyton Reffit’s father is Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who has received the harshest sentence so far in relation to Jan. 6. Guy has been sentenced to more than seven years for his actions, including for bringing a gun into the mob. Although he never entered the Capitol building, prosecutors at his trial said he “lit the match” of the insurrection and helped turn the crowd “into an unstoppable force” as a member of anti-government group The Three Percenters.

“The former President Trump is not entirely responsible for my father’s actions that day on Jan. 6,” Peyton told Insider. “However, in my opinion, I believe he used orchestrated language that uses subliminal projection, leading up to and the day of, that in a real way bypasses his supporters’ rational thought and appeals to their deeper emotions.”

Guy’s son, Jackson Reffitt, flagged his father to the FBI before Jan. 6 because he was worried what his father might be plotting, although agents did not contact Jackson about his report until after the attack, when he confirmed his father was at the Capitol. Guy had sent photos of himself at the scene on Jan. 6 in a family group chat, Jackson told ABC News. According to an FBI affidavit, Guy threatened his children after the attack, pressing them not to speak to law enforcement and telling them, “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor, and you know what happens to traitors. Traitors get shot.”

Peyton believes Trump used her family as “disposable pawns” in his scheme to hold onto power. “We are an example of how the modern American family is becoming more fragile as the political climate rises,” Peyton said in a message to Insider. “There is not enough protecting American families from the effect of propaganda and misinformation.”

Peyton added that she hopes Trump is convicted for his actions around Jan. 6. “I think it would only be just for former President Trump to be convicted and serve the longest sentence about the events that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021,” Peyton said, adding that putting Trump behind bars “would be the accountability to set a true precedent for our future as a nation to protect all American families and democracy itself.”

After her father was sentenced to seven and a half years, Peyton told reporters outside the courthouse, “Trump deserves life in prison if my father’s in prison for this long.”