The mother of a man imprisoned for being present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 is asking for prayers as her son marks 16 months behind bars at the Elkton Federal Prison in Ohio.
“My precious son has now been in prison for 16 months for attending the January 6 rally. Please continue to pray for him and all of the January 6 prisoners,” Laurie Smith, mother of Charles Bradford (Brad) Smith, wrote in an X post on Monday, adding the address to the prison in her Monday post, asking that individuals send mail to Brad, as he “loves letters.”
My precious son has now been in prison for 16 months for attending the January 6 rally. Please continue to pray for him and all of the January 6 prisoners. Here is his address he loves letters🙏❤️ his story is at https://t.co/WovhEHBAjv pic.twitter.com/eT4ejbZFO7
— mom of jan 6 prisoner (@Laurie2024) February 19, 2024
Brad Smith was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for “assaulting law enforcement officers and conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Smith, who reported to prison on November 1, 2022, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and must pay $2,000 in restitution.
The FBI, according to Smith’s mother, raided their Pennsylvania family home in September 2021 and dragged Smith out of the house “in his underwear.”
“Our nightmare began when our home was raided by the FBI in September 2021 and our 24 year old son Brad was being dragged out of our home in his underwear. From there he was on home confinement for 13 months,” Smith’s mother wrote in a GiveSendGo campaign that has since raised nearly $26,000.
The DOJ cited communication via text message between Smith and another January 6 defendant, Marshall Neefe, as well as footage of the pair participating in “pushing a large metal sign frame… into a defensive line of officers attempting to prevent the mob from further advancing on the west front plaza of the Capitol” as evidence in court documents.
Smith’s mother said her son touched the metal sign for “approximately 7 seconds,” and “left the grounds by himself,” knowing “not to enter the capitol.”
“How can privately texting your friends on your phone and using some hyperbolic rhetoric that so many young men use when texting privately and barely touching a sign put you in prison for years? He’s a young man just excited about a rally,” Smith’s mother said. “I’m certain if the FBI would look at most young people’s phones they would not always agree with their opinions. What happened to freedom of speech?”
“We are grieving for our child. We are so confused by the harsh sentence,” the defendant’s mother added. “I pray things turnaround for our country soon.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Charles Bradford Smith” by Laurie Smith and “January 6th at the U.S. Capitol” by Tyler Merbler. CC BY 2.0.
