MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Mt. Juliet man pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaulting law enforcement during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said 41-year-old Nicholas Waldon Smotherman pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Dec. 17, in U.S. District Court to felony assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, which carries a penalty of up to eight years in prison. His sentencing date is set for April 23, 2025.
According to court documents, Smotherman was identified among a crowd of rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, on the Upper West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol grounds. Shortly before 2:30 p.m., a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer’s body-worn camera captured Smotherman wearing body armor as he stood in front of the bike racks and a police line on the southwest side of the plaza.
The DOJ said Smotherman could be seen on the bodycam footage next to a group pulling on the bike racks, appearing to advance toward an MPD officer. Police commanded the rioters to move back, but they pulled the bike rack barricades to the ground. Meanwhile, Smotherman moved forward toward the police line, approached an MPD officer, and pushed the officer with both hands.
Officials said the officer attempted to push Smotherman back using a baton, but Smotherman stood upright and yelled, “Hit me with it again.” When the officer tried again, Smotherman grabbed the officer’s baton and attempted to pull it away while yelling, “I’ll f— take this” and “Come out here b—.” The officer prevented Smotherman from taking the baton while another officer deployed pepper spray, which made Smotherman retreat.
Soon after, rioters overran the police line on the Upper West Plaza, so officers retreated to the Lower West Terrace, the DOJ said. Then, a large crowd of rioters gathered in and around the entrance to the Lower West Terrace Door, which officials referred to as the “Tunnel,” calling it “the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement” on Jan. 6, 2021. Smotherman was identified in and around the Tunnel.
More than three years later, the DOJ announced the FBI arrested Smotherman on Aug. 2 in Hermitage.
According to officials, this case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the DOJ National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, with valuable assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee. The FBI’s Nashville and Washington field offices investigated the matter, receiving help from the U.S. Capitol Police and the MPD.
“In the 47 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,572 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 590 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony,” the DOJ said in a statement, adding the investigation remains ongoing.
If you have any tips about the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, you can call 1-800-225-5324 or follow this link.
