Supreme Court tackles Jan. 6 obstruction charge with Trump case looming

WASHINGTON — In the weeks before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Joseph Fischer wrote a text message talking about his desire to take Democratic members of Congress “to the gallows” and predicted politicians would be dragged out of the Capitol and hung after a mob trial, according to the government.

“Can’t vote if they can’t breathe..lol,” Fischer, then a police officer in Pennsylvania, wrote in a message on Dec. 16, 2020, authorities say.

Fischer subsequently joined the mob on Jan. 6 in a bid to block former President Donald Trump’s electoral defeat. He now faces seven criminal charges, one of which is the focus of a Supreme Court case being argued on Tuesday.

Fischer is asking the court to throw out one charge he’s facing: obstruction of an official proceeding.

But it’s not just Fischer’s charge that hangs in the balance.

Trump has been charged with violating the same law, and a conspiracy provision. As such, the Supreme Court ruling could affect his prosecution too.

Authorities say on Jan. 6, Fischer joined the crowd breaching the Capitol from the east side. “Charge!” he yelled again and again, the government says, before pushing forward toward a police line while yelling, “Motherf-----s!” He and other rioters then fell to the ground. After other rioters lifted him up, video disclosed as evidence in other Jan. 6 trials shows that he tried to appeal to officers protecting the Capitol, telling them that he was an officer too.