Former Boston K-9 officer who used chair as weapon pleads guilty to Jan. 6 charges

A former Boston Police police officer in the K-9 unit pleaded guilty to felony charges on Thursday for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Joseph Robert Fisher, 52, of Plymouth, Mass., pleaded guilty to eight counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain police officers, obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder. He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, acts of physical violence on the Capitol grounds and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a release.

Fisher was accused of pushing a chair into a Capitol police officer inside the building as the officer was running after another rioter who was deploying pepper spray. He “engaged in a physical assault” against the officer moments later, which ended with Fisher on the ground.

A current Boston police officer helped investigators identify Fisher in photographs. Fisher retired in 2016 after more than 20 years in the police force, including time on the K-9 unit. He was arrested at his home on March 30, 2023.

The DOJ said U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss will sentence Fisher on May 24, 2024.

Fisher is among more than 1,200 individuals who have been charged for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol. The DOJ has continued to prosecute individuals involved, even as the Supreme Court said it will hear a challenge to an obstruction law that has been used against many rioters.

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