A retired Pennsylvania firefighter was arrested and now faces charges for allegedly throwing a fire extinguisher at the police during the crowd’s deadly attack on the Capitol last week by Trump supporters.
According to court documents filed Thursday, 55 years old Robert Sanford of Chester, Pennsylvania, faces federal criminal charges, including assaulting a police officer, after authorities identified Sanford in a footage showing a man throwing a fire extinguisher at the police.
“The video was filmed from an elevated position and showed an area of the Capitol with a large group of policemen surrounded on at least three sides by a group of rebels,” the suit said.
In the footage, according to court documents, the fire extinguisher can be seen hitting a policeman with a helmet before bouncing off and hitting a policeman without a helmet. The object then bounces off again and hits a third officer on the head. This officer was wearing a helmet.
The incident was separated from an ongoing investigation into the death of Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who died after being hit in the head by a fire extinguisher during the January 6 riot.
Sanford, who recently retired from the Chester Fire Department according to court documents, was also charged with disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, civil disorder and illegal entry to the Capitol building.
Authorities said the FBI earlier this week asked the public to help identify a man in a shoot wearing a hat with the letters “CFD” on it. A friend who knew that Sanford was on Capitol Hill during the riot contacted the police after seeing the FBI photos.
According The Associated Press, Sanford should be tried in federal court in Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon, although officials said the case will be prosecuted in Washington, DC
The court documents do not indicate whether Sanford has a lawyer to represent him at this time.
The Justice Department has so far brought more than 70 criminal cases in connection with last week’s pro-Trump riot that occurred when a joint session of Congress met to certify the elected president Joe Biden
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Five people died in the chaos, including Sicknick and a woman shot by a plainclothes officer. Three other people died of “medical emergencies” near the Capitol gardens.