Name: Coronado man arrested, charged in Capitol insurrection
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Coronado man arrested, charged in Capitol insurrection

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Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement Using social media posts and tips, federal authorities on Wednesday arrested a Coronado man who served five years in the U.S. Army and charged him with participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. Jeffrey Alexander Smith, 33, was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and unlawful entry into a restricted building, according to a federal complaint. Both charges are misdemeanors. He made his first appearance in federal court in downtown San Diego Thursday afternoon. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernard Skomal set bond at $25,000. Appearing via a video hookup from the downtown federal lockup, Smith — also known as Alex Smith — was calm and composed throughout the hearing. Two women identified as his mother and sister sat in the front row of the public gallery as the hearing went on. John Rice, the lawyer for Smith, said he expected that the bond would be posted immediately and Smith would be released Thursday. Skomal restricted Smith’s travel to Washington, D.C. — where the case against him will be prosecuted — and Colorado, where his estranged wife and two children live and where Rice said Smith was planning to move soon.Advertisement At the hearing Rice said that Smith served in Army from 2010 to 2015, including time in Iraq, and was honorably discharged. He has been living with his parents at their Coronado home for some time and is currently unemployed, the attorney said. His arrest marks the second San Diego connection to the insurrection and riot at the U.S. Capitol Building where five people were killed and scores of others were injured. Ocean Beach resident Ashli Babbitt, 35, was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer when as part of a violent mob she attempted to gain entrance to the House chamber.Babbit’s adherence to former President Donald Trump’s evidence-free claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, and her belief in the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory were well documented on her social media accounts. Smith appears to hold some similar beliefs, according to social media posts shared with The San Diego Union-Tribune. He told FBI agents he had deleted his Instagram account after the riot, saying he got death threats because of his involvement in the events at the Capitol. Three former Coronado High School classmates shared screenshots of an Instagram account they said belonged to Smith. A statement on the page read: “I do stuff. I take pictures. I put them here. I actually just have this app to talk (expletive) to Antifa. I’ve never received so many death threats,” followed by a laughing face emoji and a clown face emoji.A photo posted the day before the riot showed a crowd of Trump supporters, with a caption that falsely stated the Pennsylvania electoral college had “switched from Biden to Trump.” “Let’s (expletive) go!!!!!” the caption read. “Biden’s out TRUMP is back on the throne!” A photo posted to the Instagram account the day of the riot shows Smith (in the same outfit as the photo of him inside the Capitol) standing next to MAGA Hulk, a Black supporter of Trump who is popular on social media.A video that captured his Instagram “story” — a series of photos and videos — shows Smith surrounded by a sea of Trump supporters at the rally that preceded the riot. At one point the crowd chants, “Stop the steal!” as Trump speaks to them in the background.Another video — one recorded by someone in the Capitol and posted to Twitter — appears to show Smith yelling, “Yeah!,” then, Yes!” at the front of a crowd as they push their way into the building through large wooden doors. Classmates also shared screenshots of older posts on the account they said belonged to Smith, including one that attacked the Black Lives Matter movement.“BLM is the new KKK don’t get it twisted they push just as much hate as the democrat ancestors,” the June 6 post says. “BLM is nothing more than a pawn from the Democratic Party. Destroying the cities the puppeteers set them loose in and causing as much panic and destruction as possible. … I will not be part of the problem and allow for the violence in my city and instead would rather be put counter protesting these pieces of (expletive). BLM and antifa are the problem not solutions.”Smith lived at his parents’ neatly attired house in Coronado. Neighbors said they saw FBI agents walk in and out of the two-story house Tuesday morning. They said it was no surprise to some neighbors, who had heard about Smith’s alleged involvement in the riot.“If you do something stupid, you pay the price,” said a woman who did not want to be identified.The neighbors said the home was decorated with large Trump banners and flags that came down after the riot.The criminal complaint filed against Smith said a witness contacted the FBI on Jan. 7 and identified Smith from a photograph posted on an Instagram account. The photo shows Smith wearing a black jacket, a Trump hat and holding a red cellphone in the air inside the Capitol building. The photo had been posted to the Instagram account @homegrownterrorist, which was set up to identify and track the rioters who stormed into the Capitol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Miller said during the court hearing that Smith removed a barricade at the Capitol that police were using to block protesters from entering the building, and then was part of a large group of people who forced open the doors to the building. Miller said there was no evidence that Smith attacked anyone, or damaged or destroyed any property. He apparently spent about 30 minutes inside the building. The complaint also said the FBI interviewed the witness, who was not identified, on Jan. 10 — four days after the riot. That witness said Smith had shown them a video of himself walking into the Capitol on Jan. 6. A second tip was received on Jan. 8 from a second unidentified witness who said he grew up with Smith in Coronado. That person provided screen shots of text messages from Smith where he wrote “I’m a Patriot,” and “I stormed the capital (sic).” The complaint said that in the text Smith wrote he intended “To send a message that Americans are(n)'t going to take a fraudulent election.” He also wrote to the second witness in a text message, “There is no way in hell I was going to drive 38 hours from San Diego and not walk right through the front of the capital(sic) building.” An FBI agent spoke with Smith by phone on Jan. 12 as he drove back to his parents’ home, the complaint says. Smith said he had driven to Washington, D.C., and his girlfriend had flown there for the rally and speech by President Donald Trump. He said he told the woman to remain in the hotel, “instead of getting into all the chaos at the U.S. Capitol.” “Smith admitted that when he approached the U.S. Capitol it was a chaotic scene,” the complaint says. “He heard people on loudspeakers, he saw tear gas, and heard what he thought were flash bangs going off. SMITH admitted he walked into the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and remained in the Capitol for about 30 minutes. “Smith admitted to deleting his Instagram account after he began receiving threats related to his involvement in the Capitol events,” the complaint reads.After the court hearing, Rice said Smith went to the Capitol to attend what he thought would be a peaceful rally. The cross-country drive took 38 hours, and Rice said that Smith had no intention to enter the Capitol building but was “kind of swept up in the moment.”“He kind of went along with the crowd,” Rice said. Rice said Smith has been living with his parents, who financed the trip back to Washington, D.C., in Coronado for some time. Public records show he has had some setbacks and appears to have tried to start a new career.San Diego Superior Court records show his wife filed for divorce in November 2018. Miller said in the court hearing that Smith had been arrested two years ago for violating a temporary restraining order, but no formal charges appear to have been filed.In June 2019 Smith set up a limited liability corporation called Smith Giving Tree Investments, LLC. Documents on file with the secretary of state describe it as a real estate investing company, but no further information was available. Smith’s case will be prosecuted in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington, D.C. Sign up to get Breaking News email alerts Get alerts on severe weather, road closures and other major breaking news. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune. 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Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement Using social media posts and tips, federal authorities on Wednesday arrested a Coronado man who served five years in the U.S. Army and charged him with participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. Jeffrey Alexander Smith, 33, was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and unlawful entry into a restricted building, according to a federal complaint. Both charges are misdemeanors. He made his first appearance in federal court in downtown San Diego Thursday afternoon....

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David Hernandez

Greg Moran

The San Diego Union-Tribune, the region's leading news source since 1868. Follow our journalists, too: http://j.mp/UTstaff

Coronado man arrested, charged in Capitol insurrection

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