A Tennessee man pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Nicholas Waldon Smotherman, 41, of Mt Juliet, pleaded guilty to several offenses including assault, resisting or obstructing certain officers. The charge carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison.

Smotherman is scheduled to be sentenced April 23.

“His alleged actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to determine and count electoral votes in connection with the 2020 presidential election,” a spokesman for the U.S. District of Columbia said in a statement Press release.

Court documents show that Smotherman was identified on January 6, 2021, among a crowd of rioters who had gathered on the Upper West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol grounds.

The law firm said the group of rioters began pulling at bike racks. Smotherman was seen on body-worn cameras alongside the group, which appeared to be walking toward police officers. When police ordered the rioters to retreat, they tore the bike rack barricade to the ground. Smotherman walked toward the police line, then walked toward police and pushed an officer with both hands, prosecutors said.

The officer then attempted to push Smotherman back with a baton, but Smotherman stood upright and yelled, “Hit me with that again.” When the officer tried to push Smotherman back again, Smotherman grabbed the officer’s baton and attempted to pull it away from him. As Smotherman played, he yelled, “I’m going to take this” and “Get out of here, b—.” The officer managed to stop Smotherman from taking the baton while another officer used pepper spray and Smotherman backed away, splitting the law firm with.

After rioters overran the police line in the Upper West Plazas, a large crowd gathered around the Lower West Terrace door entrance, where some of the most violent attacks against police took place. Smotherman was later identified in and around the area.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Smotherman in Hermitage on August 2, 2024.

He was among more than 1,572 people arrested in connection with the January 6, 2021 unrest.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee man pleads guilty to assaulting police officer in 2021 US Capitol attack