Jay Smith

Jay Smith, 32, of Freeport, New York, was among ten defendants charged in connection with the October 22, 2020 blockade of a reproductive health care clinic in Washington, D.C. — the same Washington Surgi-Clinic invasion that also resulted in convictions for Lauren Handy, Paulette Harlow, Jean Marshall, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, William Goodman, Herb Geraghty, and Joan Bell. Rather than proceeding to trial with most of his co-defendants, Smith entered a guilty plea on March 1, 2023 to a felony charge of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (18 U.S.C. § 248). The charge alleged that Smith used force and physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, and interfere with a nurse and other employees of the clinic because of the reproductive health services being provided, and that his conduct resulted in bodily injury to the clinic nurse. The case was prosecuted by the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.