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Upon returning to the presidency, Donald Trump has granted presidential pardons to over 1,500 of his supporters involved in the violent January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, including members of far-right, anti-government militias like our guest's father. Guy Wesley Reffitt helped lead the crowd that stormed the Capitol, just weeks after his then-18-year-old son Jackson attempted to warn the FBI about his plans. Jackson Reffitt now believes that Trump's pardons will embolden far-right extremists to commit further political violence, including potential backlash against those close to them. "To completely validate actions like that is going to be explosive," says Jackson Reffitt, who is now estranged from his family and fears for his own safety.
Former FBI special agent Mike German, whose new book Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within chronicles his experience working undercover in far-right, white nationalist militias and warns of the unchecked danger they pose to American society, responds to Trump's mass pardons of January 6 insurrectionists, many of whom were members of or affiliated with far-right militias. "The pardons definitely send a message both to the far-right militant movement that political violence against Trump's enemies will be rewarded … [and] sends a message to law enforcement that there's no value in investigating and prosecuting far-right violence," says German. He also notes that right-wing extremism has already infiltrated much of U.S. law enforcement, making it harder to root out and guard against political violence.
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