Smith pleads guilty to disorderly conduct after St. Ignatius High School incident
EMILY MESSER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 months, 1 week AGO
Emily Messer joined the Lake County Leader in July of 2025 after earning a B.A. degree in Journalism from the University of Montana. Emily grew up in the rolling hills of southeast Missouri. She's lived in Montana since 2022 and honed her reporting craft through the UM J-School newspaper and internships at the RMEF Bugle Magazine and the Missoulian. At the Leader, she covers government, business, education, agriculture and community news. Contact Emily Messer at [email protected] or 406.883.4343 | October 30, 2025 12:00 AM
On Monday night Nathaniel Luke Smith appeared before Judge Mary Leishman in St. Ignatius after a disturbance at Mission High School on Oct. 8.
Smith was charged with committing disorderly conduct, creating a verbal disturbance, yelling and using vulgar language, which included the maximum penalty of $185 fine and 10 days in jail, according to Leishman.
“Officers were dispatched to the school for a disturbance, disorderly male on the school grounds during school athletic practice,” Jason Acheson, St. Ignatius Police Chief, said. “This gentleman went on the school grounds, went back toward the football field, started engaging with the staff and students and yelling things pertaining to some political opinions and talking about school shootings.”
Acheson explained that St. Ignatius officers, Lake County Sheriff's deputies and Tribal Law Enforcement responded to the call. When officers made contact, Smith was argumentative; and they could not determine if he was threatening a school shooting or just talking about school shootings.
Smith was not arrested at the time of the incident; but when Acheson reviewed security cameras the next day, he saw Smith riding his bike back towards the school grounds after he was asked to leave. Faculty members of the school also reported him near the school grounds.
Acheson issued a disorderly conduct order to Smith the following day due to the disturbance and a no-contact order for the school property. Smith is currently on probation with a three-year deferred sentence after threatening the St. Ignatius Elementary School on YouTube in 2024, according to previous Lake County Leader reporting.
The FBI and Lake County Sheriff's Department were involved in this investigation. Smith lives four blocks from the school property. Acheson explained that after the incident on Oct. 8, he added additional officers on school grounds as a precaution.
Acheson explained that this was a delicate situation, and with Smith’s record he wanted to give appropriate charges.
“We’ve got to consider the safety of the public, children, safety of schools, but also the safety of the suspect,” Acheson said. “This is one of our more complex crimes that we've investigated, but we had to handle this with a delicate touch and make sure that we were following the law appropriately.”
During Smith’s initial appearance in court, he agreed to move forward with his arraignment. Smith pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to pay a fine of $185 and sentenced to serve two days in jail.
Smith responded by calling the sentencing “a little harsh” and said if he had money, he would get a lawyer to get out of it or “if I was a politician.”
According to Acheson, Smith would report to his parole officer on Oct. 28.
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