--:-- [Sound of a news theme song fades out]
--:-- Host (John Bickley): It's been three years since the riot at the Capitol on January 6th, and to date, more than 1,200 Americans have been charged, with many of them being sentenced to years behind bars.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): The polarizing cases have sparked protests, counter-protests, and accusations of political weaponization of the judicial system.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): In this episode, we talk with the organizer of a group demanding fair treatment for those charged and more accountability from government officials for what happened that day.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): It's Saturday, January 6th, and this is an extra edition of Morning Wire.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Joining us now is Mickey Withoff, the mother of Ashley Babbitt and a lead organizer for a group calling for justice for J6 defendants and more accountability for government officials.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: Thank you for coming on.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So it's been three years since the January 6th riot and since your daughter was killed at the Capitol.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: My daughter was shot and killed in the Capitol January 6th of 2021 at the Stop the Steal rally.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: It has changed my life in every way you can imagine.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: You know, the death of a child is something that I don't think anybody should have to go through.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: And, you know, Ashley did four tours of duty in the Middle East and had earned the right to protest a government that she felt was overstepping and overreaching in many ways.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: You know, the COVID lockdowns, the mandated vaccinations.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: And she ran a small business in California and you know lots of the policies were affecting her business and Ashley went there that day to redress her grievances with the government.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: Since then you know my life has changed and like I said every way you can imagine.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: I'm from Southern California I've relocated to Washington DC where we hold a vigil outside the DC jail every night to try to draw awareness to the horrific treatment of the men and women that showed up to the Capitol on January 6th.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: Also to try to open up a narrative that addresses the fact that American people have been shown the same footage that is really the most horrific aspects of that day.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: But I absolutely think that my family and Ashley deserve an investigation into the events of that day.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: And I think we need to see it all.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: You know, and lots of people are waiting for Donald Trump to get back into office and give everybody a blanket pardon.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: And that's not my position.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: I think a blanket pardon would be detrimental to our movement because I think it would sweep everything under the rug.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: And we absolutely need to see what happened that day.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: We also need to be aware as American citizens, the way the Capitol Police operate with complete impunity.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: You know, there's never been a proper investigation into the events of my daughter's death and the way that the Capitol Police are allowed to operate where they're not held accountable for their own actions.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: You know, and I think a lot of America doesn't know that Lieutenant Michael Byrd, he was lieutenant when he shot and killed my daughter.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: He's since been promoted to captain, but he has a questionable record.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: He ill and I believe that in any other police force in this country would have been cause for dismissal and not promotion
--:-- Mickey Withoff: So I think the American citizens really need to put some attention to the way the Capitol Police are allowed to operate and do business
--:-- Host (John Bickley): On the other side of this, do you believe that the people that were the true rioters that did get out of hand that day, do they deserve accountability and do they need to take responsibility for their actions?
--:-- Mickey Withoff: I absolutely do.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: That's why I don't think that a blanket pardon is a good idea.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: But I think that, you know, if we're going to hold American citizens accountable, we absolutely need to hold the police force accountable that day.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: And we need to see where the violence started.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: We need to see and I've seen, you know, footage of a peaceful crowd standing there and have munitions launched at them from above.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: But, no, I believe every single person should be held accountable for their actions that day.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: From, you know, Nancy Pelosi to Michael Byrd to every single patriot that was there that day.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: And things, you know, if things got out of control, let's see what they did.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: But I don't think that anybody deserves a seven and a half year sentence for standing on the lawn or for showing up there that day.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: I don't think judges should be allowed to legislate from the bench and and attach seven year sentences to misdemeanor charges and what they call enhanced misdemeanors.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: I mean, that's not even a thing unless it's for January sixers.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: I was not there on January six.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: But I think the American people that were there that day need to be judged fairly.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: I think that these sentences they're throwing at people are just astronomical and and just over the top.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: I think that they very much judged the day on the calendar and not the man for his deeds that day, which I would very much like to see.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: You know, Ashley Babbitt, like I said, she was in the Air Force.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: She did four tours of duty in the Middle East and came home.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: She was denied rendering of honor simply because she was at the Capitol on January 6th, never having been charged with a crime.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: And that was in February of 2021.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: So I think that they had already set forth the precedence of the way they were going to hold these people accountable.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: I just think that the sentences are excessive.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: You know, Enrique Terrio, 22 years in jail.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: He wasn't even in D.C. on January 6th.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: So I think that these are a large group of people being treated in a way that is just unprecedented.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): You mentioned the vigils that you've organized.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): We actually sent a reporter, Daniel Chaitin, to one of the vigils this week.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): In audio that he captured, the group sings the national anthem and other patriotic songs.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): They have calls with the prisoners, but mostly they offer each other hope.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Here's some of the audio from that visit.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Okay, can you tell me your name and where'd you come from?
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: Nicole Reffitt.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: My husband is Guy Reffitt.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: He was the first Jan Sixer to go to trial with a jury.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: He was convicted on all counts.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: He was sentenced to seven and a half years, August 1st of 22.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: He never entered the building, nor was he charged with any assault or violent crime.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: In the beginning it was so isolating being a Jan Sixer.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: No one wanted to have anything to do with you.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: It was really scary the way they came into our home.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: Our neighborhood of course was very scared of what they had seen.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: So for a long time, you had no contact with anyone.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And then when the community started really growing, really that's all we had was each other.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: So how many nights have you been out here?
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: Over 500 days.
--:-- Tamara Perryman: My name is Tamara Perryman.
--:-- Tamara Perryman: My husband's here in D.C.
--:-- Tamara Perryman: We give them this platform to be able to get their own voices out because we feel like it's really important.
--:-- Tamara Perryman: And the mainstream media has done everything they can to annihilate and assassinate their characters for three years.
--:-- Tamara Perryman: And they should have the opportunity to defend themselves or to even just say who they really truly are with their own words.
--:-- Tamara Perryman: They're not going to let my husband out of jail anytime soon.
--:-- Tamara Perryman: Even if they did, if they let my husband out of this jail next week, I would still be here.
--:-- Tamara Perryman: Still be right here doing this because he's not the only one.
--:-- Tamara Perryman: It's so much bigger than him.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): How long have you been carrying on these vigils and how have they gone?
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Have they been peaceful?
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: We've been absolutely peaceful.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: We've been outside the D.C. jail holding a candlelight vigil, singing the national anthem with these men that continue to sing the national anthem, despite the way this country has treated them as a group.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: They call out to our vigil through live stream and they sing as a group and we sing with them every night now for over 500 nights here in DC.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Has your group seen pushback from Antifa or other activist groups over the years?
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: Oh, well, yes, we have counter protesters out there.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: We used to have them in large number, they're dwindling, but they do follow us around.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: We also attend committee hearings in the Rayburn building, the Longworth building, and some Senate hearings, but we have been mostly present in the Rayburn building and Longworth for these congressional hearings.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And they oftentimes, you know, show up to protest us at these buildings.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: They show up at court to give us a hard time.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And they are often at our vigil to yell and scream awful things at us as well.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: But we have a large police presence there that keeps us safe and keeps them on their side of the road.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): I should ask you about the anarchy, princess, and the megaphone incident that led to your arrest.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: Oh, yeah.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: What happened there?
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: Well, you know, I've been arrested.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: You know, I've never even had a moving violation until I got here to DC, but I have been arrested twice since I've been here.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: One was for obstructing the roadway when I was trying to lay flowers last January 6th.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And the other one was for my interaction with the Anarchy Princess which speaks for itself.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: I did break a megaphone and I feel like she had that coming.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: She walked through our vigil kicked our flag.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: She had been yelling awful things through our bullhorn at us the whole Memorial Day walk.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And yeah, so I laid hands on Anarchy Princess, broke her bullhorn, and I was arrested.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Recent polls show that the country is largely divided on J6.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Do you believe your actions have changed how Americans view what happened that day?
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: Well, I just hope that as much speaking as we've done, if we win the hearts and minds of any people, that that's progress.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: I think that our persistence and our perseverance, I'm absolutely sure, has changed the life of the prisoners inside as far as their treatment.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And they're now allowed to have visitation.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And there are many, many people working hard for January Sixers.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And I first got here to D.C. We were told it was a political football nobody wanted to touch.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And now people talk about it, you know, in committee hearings and such.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And, you know, there are some vigils going on on the 6th of January, on the third anniversary.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: Of course, we're going to hold our event here in D.C. where we'll hold our vigil that night.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And also Look Ahead America is coming to hold a fully permitted event outside the Department of Justice from 12 to 2.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: There are also vigils that will happen in Ronconcon, New York, at the America First Warehouse, a canto Florida with Jeremy Brown's people, two vigils in Texas, Conroe and Houston, Talladega, Alabama, Los Angeles, Portland and Columbus, Ohio.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: But, you know, I think that Americans are largely waking up.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: I would like to say that the release of the footage is helping, but really it's been so minimal and so rolled back and watered down.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: But, you know, I think that the thing that this establishment didn't count on was American perseverance.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: For me, It's not so much about Donald Trump as it is the right to due process and the right to redress your grievances.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And this is not something I think people are going to lay down and let go away because their people, our people are in jail.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: Our people, you know, a lot of them veterans that serve this country, some police officers, some, you know, Main Street America.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: They've locked up Main Street America.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: And like you asked, do I think people should be held accountable for their actions that day?
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: I very, very, very much do.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: But I think that, you know, these people that trespassed on the grass or, you know, touched a bike fence and are being charged with assault with a deadly weapon or threw a water bottle and they're being charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: I think that's overreach.
--:-- Nicole Reffitt: I think that's excessive.
--:-- Mickey Withoff: Thank you so much for talking with us today.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): That was Mickey Widhoff.
