Middle Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to Assault on Officer, More in 2021 US Capital Attack

On By Littum

A Tennessee man pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, violation of the U.S. Capitol.

Nicholas Waldon Smotherman, 41, of Mt. Juliet, pleaded guilty to several felonies, including assault, resisting or obstructing certain officers. The charges carry a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.

Smotherman is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23.

“His alleged actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the United States Congress convened to determine and count the electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election,” a spokesman for the United States District of Columbia said in a statement.

Court documents show that Smotherman was identified among a crowd of rioters on January 6, 2021, who gathered at Upper West Plaza on the US Capitol grounds.

The attorney’s office said the group of rioters began pulling on bike racks. Smotherman was seen on body-worn cameras next to the group who appeared to be advancing on police officers. When the police ordered the rioters to move back, they pulled the bike rack barricade to the ground. Smotherman advanced to the police line and then approached police and shoved an officer with both hands, prosecutors said.

The officer then tried to push Smotherman back using a baton, but Smotherman stood up and yelled, “Hit me with that again.” When the officer again tried to push Smotherman back, Smotherman grabbed the officer’s baton and tried to pull it away. As Smotherman acted, he yelled, “I’ll take this” and “Get out here b—.” The officer managed to stop Smotherman from taking the baton while another officer deployed pepper spray and Smotherman retreated, the attorney’s office said.

After rioters crossed the police line in the Upper West Plazas, a large crowd gathered around the entrance to the Lower West Terrace door, where some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement took place. Smotherman was later identified in and around the area.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Smotherman on August 2, 2024 in Hermitage.

He was among more than 1,572 people arrested in connection with the 6 January 2021 unrest.

This article originally appeared on the Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee man pleads guilty to assault on police officer in 2021 US Capital attack