Former Boston police officer pleads guilty to charges related to Jan. 6 insurrection

By DJ Mara

Joseph Robert Fisher, a resident of Plymouth and former Boston police officer, pleaded guilty to charges related to his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol Building.

Image courtesy of MGN

Fisher was arrested in March 2023 and indicted in September on eight counts of “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder,” and misdemeanor offenses like “disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds,” among others.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia, Fisher will be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss on May 24, 2024.

Fisher was part of a larger effort to disrupt the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 while they counted electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Court documents show that Fisher entered the Capitol around 2:24 p.m. Around 2:38 p.m., an altercation began between a U.S. Capitol police officer and rioters in the Capitol Visitor Center’s Orientation Lobby. Fisher pushed a chair into a Capitol police officer and “engaged in a physical altercation” with this officer. Shortly thereafter, Fisher exited the Capitol building.

According to the press release, more than 1,265 individuals from nearly every state have been charged for crimes related to the Jan. 6 insurrection. Additionally, more than 440 have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, which is classified as a felony.