A Washington, D.C., jury has found Thomas Smith of Mathiston, Miss., guilty of nine felonies, including assaulting officers, and two misdemeanor charges for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Images of him waving the retired Confederate-themed 1894 Mississippi state flag emerged online after supporters of then-President Donald Trump attacked the Capitol in a bid to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
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Smith and his cousin, Alabama native Donnie Wren, traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend Trump’s Jan. 6 rally, where the defeated president urged supporters to march to the Capitol and told them to “fight like hell” or “you’re not going to have a country anymore.” The jury found Wren guilty of two felonies and one misdemeanor.
The evidence prosecutors presented in court depicted the pair’s day at the Capitol. When the men arrived, Smith traveled through Capitol Hill Tunnel, tried to smash a window using the flagpole and forced entry into the Capitol, the prosecutors said.
The prosecution said Smith and Wren were on the Upper West Terrace later that day, where they shoved through a police line and held officers back for 20 seconds and that Smith kicked down an officer and threw a metal pole that hit another officer’s head.
After the men left the Capitol, Smith made multiple Facebook posts, including posting a photo of him and Wren standing atop a statue waving a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and the old Mississippi flag with the caption “What a wonderful day and (sic) Washington” on Jan. 8, 2021.
“What a wonderful day and (sic) Washington” Thomas Smith wrote in a Facebook post with a photo of him and Donnie Wren standing atop a statue waving a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and the old Mississippi flag on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo courtesy Thomas Smith/Facebook
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office from the District of Columbia, the jury found Smith, 44, guilty of felonies including “assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon; obstruction of an official proceeding; two counts of civil disorder;
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