A man has been charged and sentenced to five years in prison after he used a fire extinguisher to assault police has been sentenced to five years in prison.
The sentencing of Robert Palmer is the harshest punishment imposed on the group of rioters who stormed the government building so far.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan sentenced Palmer to 63 months behind bars for his senseless involvement on Jan. 6. “It has to be made clear that trying to violently overthrow the government, trying to stop the peaceful transition of power, and assaulting law enforcement officers in that effort is going to be met with absolutely certain punishment,” said Judge Chutkan.
He was charged with assaulting police officers in the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, ReVolt reported.
Prosecutors say the Florida native threw a wooden plank at the police before grabbing a fire extinguisher and spraying it at the cops. After he emptied its contents, he threw the canister at them.
After that, Palmer picked up the fire extinguisher and threw that at authorities too.
He Is also accused of assaulting another group of cops but with a metal pole. He was eventually stopped when officers were hit in the abdomen by a rubber bullet.
Luckily, none of the officers in the attack were seriously injured.
After the riot, Palmer turned himself in to the FBI and pleaded guilty to the charges.
However, he claimed on social media that he was defending himself and claimed he only threw the fire extinguisher after being shot with the rubber bullet. Judge Chutkan said his posts showed a lack of remorse.
“Those officers were so brave standing there, just taking all the stuff that people were giving them, all the taunts, all the jeers, and everything,” Palmer told the judge before being sentenced.
“I am so ashamed I was part of that. Very, very ashamed,” he added.
