Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 58
- Location
- Dallas, Texas
- Charges
- Threats in Interstate Communications - Contained a threat to kidnap and injure law enforcement officers using a social media service and a threat to kidnap and injure politicians and executives in the technology industry
- Case status
- Pleaded guilty; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
On the day of the Capitol attack, Troy Smocks allegedly posted on Parler, “Today, January 6th, 2021, We Patriots by the millions have arrived in Washington, DC, carrying banners of support for the greatest President the World has ever known. But if we must… Many of us will return on January 19th, 2021, carrying our weapons in support of Our nation’s resolve, to which the world will never forget. We will come in numbers that no standing army or police agency can match. However, the police are NOT our enemy, unless they choose to be! All who will not stand with the American Patriots…or cannot stand with us, then, that would be a good time for you to take a few vacation days. -The American Patriot.” Investigators believe the post to have been viewed by other Parler users at least 60,926 times. The day after the attack, Smocks posted on Parler: “So over the next 24 hours, I would say lets get our personal affairs in order. Prepare our weapons, and then go get’em. Lets hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are ... the cowards ran as We took the Capital. They have it back now, only because We left. It wasn’t the building that We wanted ... it was them!” According to court documents, Smocks allegedly made a flight reservation to depart the United States for a foreign country on Jan. 15, 2021, but was taken into custody before he could leave.
Case History
Smocks pleaded Guilty to the charge. Sentenced 10/21/2021 to 14 months of incarceration; 36 months of supervised release and a special assessment of $100. Smocks received a full pardon on January 20, 2025
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.