HAMLIN — LIncoln County High School wrestling coach Roger Smith has been charged with six counts involving a social media posting he made Monday, June 8.
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ith appeared before Lincoln County Magistrate Mona Snodgrass earlier today. After a cash bond was set, Smith was taken to the regional jail, according to officials.
The Facebook posting included a video in which Smith allegedly threatened to “whip the ass” of such Lincoln officials as Circuit Judge Jay Hoke and Prosector Jim Gabehart. The charges against him include threatening those officials on a computer and three separate charges of threatening public officials.
Smith, who says he has wrestled with many of the leading professional wrestlers over the years and was a close friend of legendary Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser of “Walking Tall” fame. In the video, Smith allegedly threatened to beat the officials with a stick similar to the one supposedly carried by Pusser. Pusser was also a former wrestler.
Smith also unsuccessfully ran for a spot on the Lincoln County Commission in 2014, losing to Democrat Phoebe Harless.