The woman who captured a critical angle of Alex Pretti's killing on video has spoken out for the first time, further disproving the federal government's account. 
As chaos reigns in Minneapolis and in other ICE-infested cities across the country, the Trump administration has also not stopped grinding its repressive gears in its quest to dismantle pretty much every federal LGBTQ+ protection. Anti-LGBTQ+ hate group staffer Darin Smith is on track to become another cog in that machine.
Smith has never tried a case, yet is on track to become the next U.S. Attorney for Wyoming, a role the Department of Justice describes as the state’s “principal litigator.” Despite his dearth of experience, it’s no surprise that Donald Trump nominated Smith, who is already serving as interim U.S. attorney in the state. He does, after all, possess a few qualifications that make him a perfect fit for America’s current commander-in-chief: He’s a diehard MAGA loyalist, he believes the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen (and even rallied outside the Capitol on January 6), and he vehemently opposes LGBTQ+ people’s rights.
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Until recently, Smith served as Director of Planned Giving and Foundations for the Family Research Council (FRC), an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group that declares on its website, “the only appropriate context for sexual relations is within the marriage of a man and a woman” and that “God created us ‘male and female.’”
In his Senate Questions for the Record, Smith confirmed to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) that he agrees with FRC’s opposition to same-sex marriage, as well as its stance that homosexuality is “harmful.” His answer affirming support for the organization’s positions on LGBTQ+ individuals implies he agrees with FRC’s positions that “sexual orientation can change” with conversion therapy, that LGBTQ+ identities “should never be specially protected categories under the law,” and that the Equality Act is “actually unequal, unfair, and unjust.”
Smith’s nomination – which Wyoming’s Republican senators have enthusiastically supported – has remained largely under the radar, but his likely confirmation is significant, a sign that loyalty to Trump is still the most important qualification.
It “certainly strikes me as something that the administration could try to use as precedential,” former federal prosecutor Michael Romano told Bloomberg.
Smith’s “background gives assurance only that he is politically aligned with, and will be loyal to, President Trump,” added Bruce Green, director of Fordham School of Law’s Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics and a former federal prosecutor. “From the president’s perspective, that seems to be the only necessary qualification, and that’s good enough for Republicans in the Senate who will vote to confirm him.”
Sen. DURBIN: Trump’s U.S. Attorney nominee has never litigated a case. His only qualification is his absolute embrace of Trump’s 2020 election conspiracies. Yet, Senate Judiciary Republicans still voted to advance his nomination. pic.twitter.com/I9boQKLz2s
— Senate Judiciary Democrats(@JudiciaryDems) January 23, 2026
Josh Sorbe, a spokesperson for U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), called Darin Smith an “anti-LGBTQ + extremist” with “no business serving as top law enforcement in any state – let alone a state with as much history of queer importance as Wyoming.”
Wyoming is the state where Matthew Shepard was killed at age 21 in a brutal anti-gay hate crime in October 1998. His murder brought attention to hate crime legislation at both the state and federal levels. President Barack Obama signed into federal law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in October 2009.
Smith advocates against the majority of legal protections for LGBTQ+ people.
In fact, he once called a proposed state LGBTQ+ employment discrimination law “a Trojan horse to legislate morality.”
In his responses to Durbin, he stood by those words, explaining that the bill “would have enshrined discrimination into law” by allowing “government officials and entities funded by taxpayers to elevate the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals over the rights of the rest of the population.”
During his mere seven months as a state senator in Wyoming, he sponsored a bill seeking to criminalize drag shows and persecute public and school librarians who “promote obscenity” to minors. The bill – which ultimately died in committee – was reportedly so vague that even Republicans spoke out against it.
He also co-sponsored an anti-trans bill to ban trans kids in public schools from using facilities that match their gender identities rather than their sex assigned at birth. It ultimately became law.
Despite affirmatively telling Durbin that he agrees with FRC’s stances on LGBTQ+ people, he responded more evasively to Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE). Coons asked if Smith agreed with FRC’s stances against trans identities, abortion, and queer families. Smith replied, “I will let the Family Research Council speak for themselves and decide their positions on these matters.”
He was equally evasive regarding questions on LGBTQ+ military service.
“I believe we should follow the law, and all people should be treated equally,” he wrote in response to Durbin’s question on whether LGBTQ+ people should be allowed to serve.
Durbin also asked if Smith believes the country is less safe with LGBTQ+ military members. Smith replied, “The focus must be on having the most effective military force possible.” Asked if LGBTQ+ military members generate less respect for the United States abroad, he replied, “I believe that it should be U.S. policy to have the most effective military force possible.”
Smith did say he does not think a business or government should be able to fire someone due to their LGBTQ+ identity. “However,” he clarified, “I do believe that churches and religious organizations have the Constitutional right to make employment decisions consistent with their religious beliefs and doctrines.”
On January 6, Smith joined the thousands of MAGA protestors who rallied to pressure lawmakers to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. While he did not storm the Capitol and claims he tried to stop folks around him from doing so, he has accused Capitol police officers of “massive incompetence,” saying their “impotent response” to the rioters allowed the chaos to take place.
“The people who protected us – he said were guilty of massive incompetence,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) emphasized during a scathing speech against Smith. “I mean, seriously, what are we doing?”
In 2024, he even accused Capitol police and the FBI of baiting protestors into storming the Capitol.
“How can people get in the most secure building in the world?” Smith asked Cowboy State Daily. “It reeks of entrapment.” He also voiced support for pardoning all of the rioters.
Sorbe called Smith “an unqualified insurrectionist” whose “bigotry puts into serious question his commitment to upholding the law for all Americans.”
The Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he said, “will work to defeat his nomination.”
On the Senate questionnaire, Smith confirmed that he’s never argued before a jury, questioned a witness before a grand jury, or drafted a search warrant application. He confirmed he has no direct experience investigating violent crime, gun violence, drug trafficking, organized crime, corruption, or financial crimes. He’s never worked with crime victims, collaborated with law enforcement, or worked on issues related to juvenile justice.
But with a Republican Senate majority, Smith’s confirmation is almost guaranteed.
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