A Pennsylvania police officer has been arrested after he took part in the deadly Capitol riot, and his prior social media posts indicate he was unrepentant.
Joseph Fischer, a patrolman for North Cornwall Township Police, faces a handful of different charges after he recorded and shared a video of himself at the Capitol as the chaos unfolded on Jan. 6. He was charged with obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and for obstruction of justice. The complaint was dated last Wednesday.
Days after the riot, a Facebook user whose profile was named “SV Spindrift” posted a video showing himself “in front of the pack pushing against the police,” but it was later deleted. The FBI then used a subpoena to get Facebook to turn over the account’s information, leading authorities to Fischer.
“Made it inside … received pepper balls and pepper sprayed. Police line was 4 deep.. I made it to level two…,” the complaint quotes Fischer as saying during the video. He also could be heard shouting “hold the line” and “motherf—ers,” the complaint alleges.
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In uncovered Facebook messages from the day after the riot, Fischer told an unnamed person, “Well I may need a new job… Word got out that I was at the rally.. lol,” later adding that “the FBI may arrest me.. lol.”
Fischer later told the other person that the chief had mentioned his attendance at the rally to him and that he responded, “I told him if that is the price I have to pay to voice my freedom and liberties which I was born with and thusly taken away then [that] must be the price. … I told him I have no regrets and give zero s—s. … Sometimes doing the right thing no matter how small is more important than ones own security.”
Fischer has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the charges, according to a statement from the township.
“The Township recognizes every citizen’s right to free speech; however, each citizen must also be accountable for his or her actions. Accordingly, as required by the Pennsylvania Confidence in Law Enforcement Act, the police officer was immediately suspended without pay pending the disposition of these charges,” it read.
Former President Donald Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives last month for “incitement of insurrection,” after he encouraged his supporters who attended a rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 to march to the Capitol to express their displeasure with Congress’s intent to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory, which ultimately turned into a deadly clash between Trump supporters and law enforcement officers.
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Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney for the nation’s capital, previously said 400 subject case files have been opened so far, and there are more than 150 cases with federal charges. Some people who were charged in connection to the deadly attack on the Capitol had ties to militias and had brought weapons to the Capitol.
The Senate voted to acquit Trump, after he had been out of office. Trump is the only president in the country’s history to be impeached in the House multiple times.
