Nick Alvear biography: 13 things about US Capitol rioter from Los Angeles, California

Who is Nick Alvear?

Eduardo Nicolas Alvear Gonzalez is a Venezuelan-American information technology expert. He is from Los Angeles, California, United States, which is around 2,668 miles away from Washington, D.C., USA.

On November 3, 2020, Joe Biden won the U.S. presidential election, defeating Donald Trump. On January 6, 2021, Trump’s supporters breached the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. while a joint session of the U.S. Congress was certifying the vote of the Electoral College and affirming Biden’s victory.

For Alvear’s participation in the U.S. Capitol riot, he was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He also goes by the names Nick Alvear and Lion Nick.
2. Aside from Los Angeles, he has lived in other parts of California including Ventura.
3. He attended Ventura County Community College District in Ventura and Antioch University Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California.
4. He studied computer network engineering at Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara.
5. He was born in Venezuela in 1988.
6. In 1989, he and his family moved from Venezuela to the U.S.
7. In 2006, he graduated from Foothill Technology High School in Ventura. 
8. From September 2007 to August 2010, he was a barista at Java Joes in Whitefish, Montana, USA.
9. From January 2008 to December 2014, he was a freelance video producer at Torus Digital Cinema.
10. From April 2012 to April 2013, he was a sales specialist at Apple in Cupertino, California.
11. From April 2015 to April 2016, he was a lead technician and a manager at Mick’s Macs.
12. From September 2017 to March 2020, he became an IT support specialist II and a desktop systems specialist II at Procore Technologies in Carpinteria, California.
13. For the month of January 2021, he rented a place in Alexandria, Virginia, USA through Airbnb. 

TIMELINE

2016

• In May 2016, he joined Curvature in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA as a professional services engineer and monitoring support.

2017

• In May 2017, he became a Curvature network sales engineer.
• In October 2017, he left Curvature.

2020

• In May 2020, he became the chief executive officer of Good Lion Films.

2021

• On January 6, 2021, he entered the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. wearing an olive-colored sun hat, an olive-colored long-sleeve shirt and American flag-patterned pants while carrying a light green backpack and a black fanny pack. Holding a self-rolled cigarette in his hand during the riot, he said, “It’s time to smoke weed in here.” It earned him the name the Doobie Smoker.
• On January 7, 2021, he live streamed a Zoom video for more than one hour. He narrated photos and videos taken in the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021. He said he went there to “take our country back.”
• He was scheduled to fly back from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California on February 1, 2021.
• On February 9, 2021, he was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents at an apartment in Virginia Beach, Virginia and booked into the Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk, Virginia.
• On September 30, 2021, he pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing at the U.S. Capitol.

2022

• On March 3, 2022, he was sentenced to two years’ probation and 200 hours of community service and was ordered to pay $500 restitution and a $1,000 fine.

2025

• On January 20, 2025, Trump pardoned him and around 1,500 other U.S. Capitol rioters.