Former Boston police officer convicted in January 6 Capitol riot case

WASHINGTON — A former Boston police K-9 officer who helped respond to the Boston Marathon bombing was sentenced Friday to 20 months in prison for attacking a Capitol police officer with a chair during the 6 June riot. of January.

Joseph Fisher, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, was convicted after a hearing in which he called his actions that day “an abomination.”

Fisher, 52, said he wanted to offer a sincere apology to the officer he assaulted, to the people of Washington, D.C. and to the country, saying his conduct was “egregious” and that he should have known better.

“Would you do that in your town?” Fisher said he would ask the people he arrested who were not from the Boston area, adding that his actions on Jan. 6 disrespected the city of Washington, that he was very embarrassed by what he did and that he tarnished his family’s reputation.

Federal prosecutors had wanted 46 months in prison for Fisher, arguing he was present during the early stages of the Capitol invasion and helped aid a rioter’s escape on January 6.

“Upon entering the Capitol building, Fisher headed to the orientation lobby of the Capitol Visitor Center. At that time, another rioter sprayed a chemical irritant on a Capitol Police officer. The officer chased the rioter down a hallway in an attempt to arrest it,” federal prosecutors wrote.

“Fisher grabbed a chair, watched and waited as the rioter and the officer approached his position and slammed the chair into the officer. Fisher then grabbed the officer and pushed him while another rioter pushed the officer from behind. The fight ended with Fisher in the terrain and the other rioter successfully escaped,” they added.

Fisher was arrested in March 2023 and pleaded guilty to all charges he faced in February.

Fisher said Friday that he planned to continue mental health counseling after his release, as well as spend time with his family.

Fisher was identified online”sedition hunters“who helped arrest hundreds of Capitol rioters. Facial recognition has brought to light many images of Fisher, including a screenshot of a video taken at a press conference following the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the brothers who detonated two bombs pressure cooker at the Boston Marathon in 2013.

Fisher’s sentencing hearing came as a judge in the same federal court sentenced a New Jersey man to 12 years in federal prison for assaulting police officers while wearing a “Make America Great Again” sweatshirt. Earlier in the day, a Florida man who online detectives dubbed “Sedition Panda” because of the panda costume he wore when he stormed the Capitol was convicted of all charges, including assaulting an officer.