FILE PHOTO: Police release tear gas into a crowd of pro-Trump protesters during clashes at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File PhotoReuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first criminal trial of a person accused of taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump's supporters opened on Monday, with a judge screening potential jurors for bias.
The defendant, Guy Reffitt of Texas, is one of more than 725 people charged with taking part in the violence, which attempted to stop Congress from formally certifying Democratic President Joe Biden's election.
Reffitt faces charges of entering the Capitol grounds with a firearm as well as an obstruction charge because he allegedly threatened his teenage children with harm if they turned him in to authorities.
Reffitt's estranged son, now 19, turned him into the FBI. The son, Jackson, is expected to testify against his father at trial, prosecutors have said.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich asked several questions of a group of about 50 prospective jurors to determine whether they could be fair and impartial.
The jury selection process is expected to take all of Monday and possibly into Tuesday, and the trial could take more than a week.
Jurors were asked if they followed news coverage about the Jan. 6 attack and whether they have such strong...
We respect your privacy Telewizja Polska S.A. w likwidacji processes your personal data collected when you visit individual websites on the tvp.pl Portal (hereinafter referred to as the Portal), i...