A retired Boston police officer from Plymouth pleaded guilty Thursday to charges he assaulted a Capitol Police officer during the breach of the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Joseph Fisher, 52, was indicted in September on eight criminal counts, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, according to court records.
Fisher, who was arrested in March 2023 at his Plymouth home, is scheduled to be sentenced May 24 in Washington, D.C.
An FBI affidavit filed in the case said surveillance footage showed Fisher entering the Capitol around 2:24 p.m. during the rioting, which was part of an effort to overturn the election results and declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election.
Fisher was in the Capitol Visitor Center’s lobby when fighting began between a Capitol police officer and other rioters, prosecutors said.
As a Capitol Police officer pursued a rioter who had used pepper spray, Fisher shoved a chair against the officer and a fight ensued.
Fisher assaulted the officer but ended up on the ground and out of the camera frame, court documents said.
Fisher retired from the Boston police force in 2016 after 22 years. His most recent assignment was as a member of the department’s K-9 unit.
The deadly 2021 insurrection began after Trump, in the final days of his presidency, urged supporters to “fight like hell” before they marched to the Capitol in an effort to block the certification of Biden’s November election victory.
The mob breached the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to evacuate to an undisclosed location for several hours before the certification process could continue.
Five people died in the attack or its immediate aftermath, and scores more were injured, including at least 140 members of law enforcement who were harassed, beaten, and sprayed with various substances.
More than 1,250 people have been arrested so far, according to the US Justice Department, which says the investigation is ongoing.
Material from other published stories was used in this report. Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindenpendent.org.