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Former Boston officer expected to plead guilty to Jan. 6 charges
Retired Boston police officer Joseph Robert Fisher is accused of assaulting a Capitol officer on Jan. 6, 2021. He's expected to plead guilty to federal charges.
A former Boston police officer is expected to plead guilty to federal charges for allegedly entering the U.S. Capitol and assaulting an officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, court documents show.
In a motion filed in federal court on Nov. 30, Joseph Robert Fisher’s public defender said the Plymouth man “anticipates pleading guilty to the Indictment as charged, without a plea agreement.” Fisher’s next court date is Feb. 1.
The 52-year-old was indicted in September on eight criminal counts, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and engaging in physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, according to a copy of the indictment. He pleaded not guilty at the time.
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Fisher was initially arrested in March and released on personal recognizance.
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He joined the Boston Police Department in 1994 and retired on Dec. 14, 2016, The Boston Globe reported. Fisher spent roughly the last 17 months of his BPD tenure assigned to the “Medically Incapacitated Section,” according to the Globe.
Prosecutors allege that Fisher entered the Capitol around 2:24 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, as a mob stormed the building in an attempt to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory over then-President Donald Trump.
Surveillance footage allegedly shows Fisher entering the House side of the Capitol Visitor Center’s Orientation Lobby, where a fight broke out between a U.S. Capitol police officer and other rioters.
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“As a U.S. Capitol Police Officer pursued a rioter who had deployed pepper spray, Fisher pushed a chair into the Capitol Police Officer,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a March press release. Fisher allegedly proceeded to physically fight the officer.
According to court documents, Fisher’s beanie — which featured the logos of several Boston sports teams — helped investigators identify him in photos and video from the insurrection.
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