Ex-Boston police officer who assaulted a Capitol Police officer with a chair on Jan. 6 is sentenced

WASHINGTON — A former Boston police K-9 officer who helped in the response to the Boston Marathon bombing was sentenced Friday to 20 months in prison for attacking a Capitol Police officer with a chair during the Jan. 6 riot.

Joseph Fisher of Plymouth, Massachusetts, was sentenced after a court hearing in which he called his actions that day "an abomination."

Fisher, 52, said he wanted to offer a heartfelt apology to the officer he assaulted, to the people of Washington, D.C., and to the country, saying his conduct was "egregious" and that he should've known better.

"Would you do this in your town?" Fisher said he would ask people he arrested who weren't from the Boston area, adding that his actions on Jan. 6 disrespected the city of Washington, that he was highly embarrassed by what he did and that he stained his family's reputation.

Federal prosecutors had sought 46 months of incarceration for Fisher, arguing that he was present during the early stages of the Capitol breach, and helped aid a Jan. 6 rioter's escape.

"Upon entering the Capitol Building, Fisher made his way to the Capitol Visitor Center’s Orientation Lobby. At that time, another rioter sprayed a chemical irritant at a Capitol Police officer. The officer chased the rioter through a hallway in an attempt to apprehend him," federal prosecutors wrote.

"Fisher grabbed a chair, watched and waited as the rioter and officer approached his position, and rammed the chair into the officer. Fisher then grabbed the officer and pushed him as another rioter shoved the officer from behind. The fight ended with Fisher on the ground and the other rioter successfully escaped," they added.

Fisher was arrested in March 2023 and he pleaded guilty to all the counts he faced in