On the steps of the Capitol building, Guy Reffitt stood out.
He wore a tactical vest and helmet, but his face was not visible as he used a water bottle to clear pepper spray from his eyes.
The FBI matched Reffitt's driver's license photograph with the image of him captured in news footage. The FBI arrested him at his home.
Reffitt is the first member of the pro-Trump mob to go to trial on charges stemming from the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The jury selection process in Washington, DC, marks a key milestone as well as the nation's broader reckoning with the January 6 insurrection.
With many more trials expected in the coming months, this week's proceeding presents a preview of the prosecution's strategy for winning convictions against January 6 defendants who choose to go before a jury of their peers rather than plead guilty.
The upcoming trial is expected to feature testimony from Capitol police officers, FBI, and Secret Service agents, a former Senate lawyer, and even Reffitt's children.
The trial provides a stage for the Justice Department to make a strong presentation on the seriousness of the January 6 insurrection, even as former President Donald Trump and other top Republicans downplay the Capitol attack and assert it was merely a political protest protected by the First Amendment.
If elected president again, Trump said he would consider pardoning those who were prosecuted for storming the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying the election of Joe Biden.
In a situation like this, the first trial is important because it sets the precedent, and other defendants will be watching to see what happens and plan their own strategies accordingly, said Randall Eliason, a professor at the George Washington University Law School.
A good result for the government is that it will persuade others to cooperate, not just to plead guilty but to flip.
Reffitt is charged with two counts of civil disorder, one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, one count of remaining on restricted ground with a deadly weapon, and one count of obstruction of justice.
According to legal experts, the Justice Department has a compelling story to tell at the first trial.
Reffitt was accused of carrying a pistol and handcuffs as he joined the first group of rioters that charged at the Capitol building.
Reffitt was at the front of the pack. They say he retreated after police sprayed him. Reffitt entered US Capitol grounds with a deadly weapon, but he did not enter the Capitol itself.
Reffitt's criminal conduct went beyond the Capitol, prosecutors said. His involvement in the Capitol breach made him more determined to return to Texas. He told his children that they would be traitors if they turned him in.
The son of Reffitt told the FBI in December 2020 that his father was going to do some serious damage. Reffitt's son secretly recorded his father saying that he was willing to die at the Capitol and that the riot was just the beginning. The daughter of Reffitt is expected to testify.
Reffitt's fellow member of the Texas Three Percenters militia group who traveled with Reffitt to Washington will be called by prosecutors.
Capitol police officers who were involved with Reffitt are expected to testify. The prosecutors plan to call a Secret Service agent to relocate the Vice President and his family from the US Capitol.
Legal experts told Insider that a guilty verdict would give the Justice Department a boost.
Legal experts said the trial could offer insights to other January 6 defendants weighing whether to plead guilty or go to trial.
The lawyer for the January 6 defendants said that it would be like a road map for all the other trials. How can we poke holes in this?
In Reffitt's case and others, defense lawyers have argued that accused participants in the January 6 attack cannot receive a fair trial in Washington, DC. Monday's proceeding will show how prosecutors and defense lawyers will scrutinize potential jurors in order to make sure they are not biased against the alleged participants in the attack.
A challenge to the obstruction of an official proceeding charge is expected to be renewed by the case. Reffitt and more than 250 other January 6 defendants are facing a felony charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The certification of the nation's Electoral College vote was not the kind of official proceeding envisioned by the law, according to defense lawyers.
The charge was not dismissed by Judge Friedrich in December. She would consider it again once the facts of the case were established.
The obstruction of an official proceeding charge will be proved by calling a former US Senate lawyer, Daniel Schwager, who was on the Senate floor that day.
As the Justice Department continues to take January 6 prosecutions to trial, it will need to stay disciplined and keep itself from allowing any of these cases to become too routine for the prosecutors, according to Barb McQuade, a University of Michigan Law School professor.
They will be selected if they don't know anything about what happened or haven't seen much of the case. McQuade told Insider that the Justice Department is going to have to think about telling the whole story.
You have to give it your all every time, like on Broadway.
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