A prosecutor said on Wednesday that the Texas man who is the first person to stand trial for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the United States Capitol told a friend that he wanted to drag Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the building.

Guy Reffitt of Wylie, Texas, is the first of approximately 750 people charged with participating in the riot by Donald Trump supporters to stand trial in Washington. Reffitt has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including possession of a semi-automatic handgun on Capitol grounds.

In his opening statement, federal prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler told jurors that Reffitt led a mob of rioters up the Capitol’s stairs to “overwhelm” police and storm the building. Reffitt, according to Nestler, texted a friend about plans to drag Pelosi and other lawmakers out of the building.

According to the prosecutor, Reffitt told a friend, “I just want to see Pelosi’s head hitting every fucking stair” of the building.

William Welch, Reffitt’s attorney, made a brief opening statement to the jury, speaking for only two minutes.

Welch described his client as “exaggerating and ranting.” “This trial will be about truth versus fiction.”

Over 200 defendants have already pleaded guilty to mob membership, which has sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives. Reffitt’s trial is an important test case as the US Justice Department seeks convictions from the hundreds of defendants who have refused to accept plea bargains. They face charges ranging from unlawful picketing to seditious conspiracy, the latter of which 11 members of the right-wing Oath Keepers were charged with in January.

Joshua James, one of the 11 defendants, has a plea hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET (2200 GMT), indicating that he will likely plead guilty. A guilty plea like this would be a significant victory for the Justice Department, which is hoping for a similar conviction against Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and other defendants in the sedition case.

A guilty verdict for Reffitt may persuade other defendants to accept plea bargains offered by prosecutors. A favorable verdict for Reffitt, on the other hand, may encourage the hundreds of defendants who have not accepted plea bargains to take the risk of going to trial. Reffitt is also facing obstruction charges for allegedly threatening his teenage children with physical harm if they turned him in to authorities. The other defendants face charges ranging from unlawful picketing to seditious conspiracy, with which 11 people affiliated with the right-wing Oath Keepers were charged in January.

Jackson Reffitt, Reffitt’s estranged son, turned him in to the FBI. Nestler stated that the son will testify against his father during the trial.

Thousands of people stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, following Trump’s fiery speech in which he falsely claimed that his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud, an assertion that has been refuted by multiple courts, state election officials, and members of his own administration.

On the day of the violence, four people were killed, one by police and three by natural causes. The following day, a Capitol Police officer who had been attacked by protesters died. Four police officers who took part in the defense of the Capitol later took their own lives. More than a hundred police officers were injured in the riot.