Former firefighter struck 3 Capitol officers with fire extinguisher in riot, feds say
A retired Pennsylvania firefighter is accused of throwing a fire extinguisher that struck three U.S. Capitol police officers during the riot last week, authorities say.
Robert Sanford, 55, was arrested after a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol last week as Congress was certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
He’s charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding police; civil disorder; disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authorities.
The FBI reviewed a YouTube video that captured a man throwing a fire extinguisher as insurrectionists surrounded Capitol police on three sides, according to court documents. The extinguisher hit an officer wearing a helmet and ricocheted, striking two other officers, authorities say. One of the officers wasn’t wearing a helmet.
A second video seen by the FBI showed the attack from the ground level and included a man matching the description of the person seen throwing the fire extinguisher, according to documents.
A friend of Sanford contacted the FBI on Tuesday and informed agents that the 55-year-old was a retired firefighter from the Chester Fire Department, according to documents. The friend told agents Sanford said he traveled to the Capitol in a bus with a group.
“The group had gone to the White House and listened to President Donald J. Trump’s speech and then had followed the president’s instructions and gone to the Capitol,” the FBI says in court documents.
Five people died after the attack, including Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who was also hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, police say. No one has been charged in his death.
At least 58 D.C. police officers were injured in the Capitol riot, according to The Washington Post, which reported the number of injured Capitol police officers remains “unknown.”
The Chester firefighter union condemned the violence in a statement Thursday.
According to city officials, Sanford retired in February 2020. He was a member of the fire department since 1994.
“City officials are aware that a former Chester firefighter allegedly attended and participated in the insurrection that took place in our nation’s capital last week,” Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland said in a statement. “While Robert Sanford adorned a hat with a fire department logo, he is not a current employee of the city of Chester.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2021 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Former firefighter struck 3 Capitol officers with fire extinguisher in riot, feds say."