Hi, my name is Laurie Smith and I am the devastated mother of Charles Bradford Smith ( Brad). Our nightmare begin 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. Now just recently to our shock and horror he was sentenced to 41 months in prison. He reports on November 1st.,2022 to Elkton Federal Prison in Ohio. 4 hours from our home. I will start by saying that Brad has never been in trouble. Not even a traffic violation. Brad has attended several Trump rallies over the years and was very excited about supporting Trump on January 6th. . Due to back and forth text to his friend on his phone and that friend going down with him to the rally he was charged with conspiracy. Then months later the DOJ charged him with assault although he never assaulted anyone. Even the prosecution questioned that charge. The assault charge the DOJ said was because a metal sign went past him ( and hundreds of others), but Brad touched it for approximately 7 seconds. This sign never injured anyone and it was only after a wooden cross had been put up in the same area. Brad left the grounds by himself and knew not to enter the capital. We are grieving for our child. We are so confused by the harsh sentence. 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 . I'm certain if the FBI would look at most young peoples phones they would not always agree with their opinions. What happened to freedom of speech?

Any prayers, letters, or a financial contribution towards Brad's situation would help immensely. Just paying for monthly prison commissary , travel expenses to visit him, and keeping up with our sons bills is going to be a challenge on top of the sleepless nights not knowing how my son is doing. I pray things turnaround for our country soon.

* Brad did not enter the capital

* Brad did not vandalize anything

* Brad did not hurt anyone

* Brad did not bring a weapon

This campaign is unpublished.