Man Who Allegedly Threw Fire Extinguisher at Police Arrested on Federal Charges

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

1 hour ago

Man Who Allegedly Threw Fire Extinguisher at Police Arrested on Federal Charges

By Aruna Viswanatha and Erin Ailworth

A retired firefighter from Pennsylvania was arrested Thursday morning for allegedly throwing a fire extinguisher that hit three police officers at the pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol as captured on video, U.S. officials said.

Robert Sanford of Chester, Pa., faces three federal felony charges including assaulting a police officer after he was allegedly identified as the person who lobbed a fire extinguisher on the west side of the Capitol, at around 2:30 pm, as the mob crashed past a thin line of Capitol police officers and stormed towards the building on Jan. 6.

Around the same time, a radio dispatch captured by OpenMHZ, a platform that records radio chatter from law enforcement and life- safety services agencies, relayed an emergency code: "There is a 10-33 at the Capitol building. It has been breached." The 10-33 code signifies an emergency in which an officer needs assistance.

The extinguisher that Mr. Sanford allegedly threw is separate from the one that killed Officer Brian Sicknick, who was also struck in the head with a fire extinguisher during the unrest and died from his wounds, officials said. (1)

{snip}

(1) https://www.wsj.com/articles/capitol-police-officer-brian-sicknick-dies-of-injuries-sustained-at-riot-11610121907

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-impeachment-house-biden/card/jjabJi3k3h0KAkxYDoWY

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https://twitter.com/aviswanatha
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https://twitter.com/ailworth
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A retired firefighter from #Pennsylvania arrested this morning for allegedly throwing a fire extinguisher that hit three police officers during the #CapitolSiege.

Link to tweet

[exboyfil]

1. Irony isn't dead

He is a retired firefighter. The gods are trolling us. First it was the woman trampled the death while hold a Don't Tread on Me flag and now this.

[SheltieLover]

6. Ikr!

[IsItJustMe]

23. Sure it's not karma with a jacked up sense of humor.

[grantcart]

42. Also a career government employee protesting about how bad government employees are.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. How does WSJ know that's not the incident that killed Officer Sicknick?

[BusyBeingBest]

8. Probably happened in a different location, with reliable witnesses.

Maybe fellow officers saw it.

[enough]

16. There is video of the throwing incident. NT

[mahatmakanejeeves]

19. From the article:

Robert Sanford of Chester, Pa., faces three federal felony charges including assaulting a police officer after he was allegedly identified as the person who lobbed a fire extinguisher on the west side of the Capitol, at around 2:30 pm, as the mob crashed past a thin line of Capitol police officers and stormed towards the building on Jan. 6.

This incident occurred on the west front of the Capitol, at around 2:30 p.m. I do not know where Officer Sicknick was, but presumably his injuries were inflicted at some other location and at some other time.

The reporters were working from police reports.

Thanks for writing.

[BobTheSubgenius]

32. My mind seems to be rejecting the idea that it hang on to the details from that day.

Most of it is now a horrible, gelatinous goo of pictures of awful behaviour....but I'm pretty sure Officer Sicknick was murdered indoors. This account of this crime seems pretty definitively to have occurred outdoors.

[BeyondGeography]

3. I wonder if the CFD logo on his cap helped investigators

[marble falls]

4. That's another retired firefighter from Chicago.

[BeyondGeography]

9. That hasn't been verified

Here’s a report from yesterday’s Tribune:

Langford also said the department is aware of some amateur attempts at identifying the man circulating on the Internet. One in particular posted the photo of a retired department member, and Langford said that was not the person seen in the image being used by investigators.

Langford also said the “CFD” initials on the knit hat in the photo in question are not the official logo used by the department.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-capitol-riot-cfd-hat-guy-20210113-55nrwqfghvchtmtmejsaeom3xm-story.html

[AllaN01Bear]

31. paywall.

[LisaL]

11. That guy was wrongly identified.

NT

[ret5hd]

7. For some reason, RW'ers REALLY seem to have a need...

to visibly identify with groups (even if said group has nothing to do with the subject at hand): this guy with his cap, PB’s with their polo shirts, the tiki torches gala, bikers with all their “regalia”, gun nuts with all the camo, etc etc etc.

I was a proud Union member for 30+ years...I wore a union cap and/or a union t-shirt when going to a union meeting, sometimes to work if that’s what I had clean. But that wasn’t my life’s “uniform”.

[dameatball]

26. They can't comment on your post until they get back from the boat parade...:)

[Jetheels]

36. Maybe the have no self identity. Except they were promised___, and have been wronged. n/t

[christx30]

37. The last tome the right had uniforms,

they were designed by Hugo Boss. Gotta recapture the magic.

[marble falls]

5. All the Trump BS these jerks spit into their neighbors & family for four years is ...

... coming home to roost.

[Bev54]

10. Good news, this was one arrest that was imperative.

[LisaL]

12. Yep, considering the guy had his last name on the back of his hat.

He had CFD on the front, Sanford on the back.

[Bev54]

14. Don't you just wonder how these people even survive through life?

[LisaL]

17. I dunno.

The cop that got hit by the fire extinguisher was wearing a helmet, which is what likely saved his life.

[mahina]

59. With teeth, too. Odd.

[niyad]

27. The cfd guy is someone else. See up thread.

[LisaL]

33. No, the guy arrested is the guy wearing a CFD hat.

NT

[BumRushDaShow]

13. Here's my Philly paper's article (Philadelphia Inquirer)

This is a different guy from whoever killed Sicknick. However his throw injured some officers.

Retired Delco firefighter accused of lobbing fire extinguisher that injured officers during Capitol attack

by Jeremy Roebuck, Posted: 19 minutes ago
Retired Delco firefighter accused of lobbing fire extinguisher that injured officers during Capitol attack
JESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer


A retired firefighter from Delaware County was arrested Thursday for lobbing a fire extinguisher that hit three police officers during the insurrectionist riot at the U.S. Capitol last week, federal authorities said.

Robert Sanford faces federal felony charges including assaulting a police officer. The projectile he is accused of throwing was not the one that killed Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was also struck in the head by a fire extinguisher during the melee and later died from his wounds, authorities said.

Investigators said Sanford was identified from video taken at the scene showing him throwing the fire extinguisher around 2:30 p.m. as the pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol building’s west side.

Sanford is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court in Philadelphia Thursday afternoon and will later be transferred to Washington, where his case is being prosecuted. It was not immediately clear whether he had retained an attorney.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/brian-sanford-capitol-riot-arrests-attack-trump-delaware-county-fire-extinguisher-20210114.html

[greenjar_01]

38. "Lobbing"

Good God.

[iluvtennis]

15. Yet yesterday in a recorded video, trump said ppl who support his "movement" aren't violent. Keep

investigating FBI/others, there is so much to uncover about the siege on the US Capitol.

[BobTheSubgenius]

34. Oh. So that is a defining characteristic of his "movement," is it?

Is this a pledge you take when entering into that midden pit, or is it applied retroactively, when needed?

And when I read or hear words like "his movement," it's not a paramilitary, fringe-political type of "movement" that comes to mind.

[still_one]

18. I hope they see some prison time for this

[nam78_two]

43. The most sickening crimes serve a dual purpose

From fiction like The Handmaid's Tale to real news stories imvolving regimes where women have no actual rights:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibbeting

https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/stoning-afghanistan-graphic-video-execution-shows-talibans-growing/story?id=12770754

https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/08/world/asia/afghanistan-public-execution/index.html

Btw I am far from an Islamphobe -l don't get religion..these examples were chosen at random.
These are regimes that have been more successful than the Gilead of THT. If you read forums of extremists-incels, neo nazis, hindu supremacists etc., death and rape threats are common. Ethnorape is a theme..sick. Women's rights has really pissed them off. And the range or female personality is an enigma to people of this type.

It is not melodramatic at this point to say that these mass executions, violence like this etc. are intended to frighten people..it has use as propaganda as much as the actual violence has purpose. And I don't study these things or have expertise in them. I merely know how they affect the naturally fearful of a different kind. Not the kind who get guns and build walls and so on but who respond by leading lives of quiet desparation (well less quiet in this case) and are certain that a by the book shrink would prescribe anxiety meds and classify them a nutter merely for actually recognizing the scariness of world events.

[iluvtennis]

20. Video of the fire extingusiher being trhown at the police

Link to tweet

[Rebl2]

21. There was a

lengthy article a few weeks ago in The Kansas City Star about racism and harassment of women regarding the KCFD. It is supposedly going to be investigated by the Kansas City city council.

[Midnight Writer]

22. Another fool, retired with a pension, could have lived out his days in comfort. But no...

He listened to FOX, OAN, Newsmax, Hate Radio, the President, whatever, and decided to throw away his life.

[greenjar_01]

39. It's incredible

There's a reasonably good chance that nobody is going to give a shit about Donald Trump two months from now, but this deplorable jackass will be dealing with a federal charge that could land him in a federal penitentiary for several years. Retired with a pension, not a care in the damn world, and this is his life now, being transported to a Washington DC federal facility to answer to charges of assaulting a police officer, and the humiliation of being this guy. Incredible what these people did to their lives over a no account scumbag like Trump.

[C Moon]

47. Wow. I certainly hope he does more than several. Didn't one of those officers die from his injuries?

I don't know the laws, but I would hope it would be more like 20 years to life.

[greenjar_01]

48. No, none of these particular officers died

The officer that died was in a separate incident.

[C Moon]

50. Okay. Thanks!

[C Moon]

55. I should have read the article. :D Just did now.

[Auggie]

24. Photo (graphic warning?)

[niyad]

28. This is apparently a different terrorist.

[LisaL]

35. You seem to be confused.

This is the guy they arrested.

"CHESTER, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A retired firefighter from Chester, Pennsylvania is accused of being the man seen on video throwing a fire extinguisher that hit three police officers at the Capitol during the riot in Washington, D.C. last week."

https://6abc.com/capitol-riot-arrest-fire-extinguisher-thrown-washington-video-robert-sanford/9653742/

[greenjar_01]

40. No, this is him

[BumRushDaShow]

53. What has happened here is that the "CFD" was attributed to "Chicago FD" and it's "Chester FD"

as in the city of Chester, PA, which is in Delaware County PA, And that is the guy in this case.

It's odd that he does look like a retired Chicago FD worker.



Chester is along the Delaware River just south of Philly and has refineries plus makes Scott's toilet paper!

[bucolic_frolic]

25. Where do they find these bright people, such masters of disguise

[IcyPeas]

51. ... masters of disguise

yes, they made a mistake by not covering their faces..... I worry that next time (inaugurations?) they will all dress like antifa then they won't be recognized.

[bucolic_frolic]

54. I actually meant fireman carrying a fire extinguisher, but that's ok /nt

[okojo]

29. This is why it is important not to jump to conclusions while sleuthing on the Internet..

If you look at the photo, and other photos of the retired Chicago Fireman, one would think they are a pretty good match. In reality, they are not. It is better to be prudent than jump to conclusions. I for one, thought the retired fireman in Chicago fit the photo at the capitol pretty well.

My qualms that the piping on the Beanie's lettering doesn't match beanies for the Chicago Fire Dept. the capitol hill photo, showed a smaller guy less gray in his goatee..

In the end, I was wrong.

[LisaL]

41. I didn't think they were a good match.

The wrongly identified (by the internets) guy from Chicago was pretty tall and big, with huge hands. The one from Chester, who is arrested, not so much.
Regarding the hat, I don't think the hat is an official hat for either fire department. It's sold by numerous websites. The letters are supposed to represent Chicago Fire Department, but obviously anybody could buy it, and wear it.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

30. I just wonder why we see firefighters and police

in the crowd. Those jobs are a demonstration of 'socialism' in action. from a funding point of view.

[Mopar151]

45. Male authority figures in f'n charge, mister! nt

[Jon King]

44. Lots of angry white guys in that area....

Used to run a business in that area. Chester is mostly African American and the white guys who remain in the surrounding areas are pretty nasty dudes. This guy looks like a walking road rage maniac.

[reader1]

49. They are everywhere

especially from middle aged to older white guys who listen to propagandist like Rush Limbaugh. This also make them easy candidates to be indoctrinated and a propensity become terrorist.

[C Moon]

46. Let Trump try to pardon this ahole.

[VladmireTrumpkins]

52. Life in prison !!

[Evolve Dammit]

56. It is still hard to fathom how many cops, fire-fighters, military were SO f'in brainwashed by a cult

to participate in a bloodlust riot for an orange con artist, mob boss traitor. Decades of FOX, Limbaugh, Ingraham got them, their friends, their co-workers and their family to this point, willingly. Behold the power of constant propaganda (ie. "alternative facts" otherwise known as lies by anyone capable of critical thinking).

[colsohlibgal]

57. Lock Him Up !

Heading to Prison for being seriously gullible just like many of these losers.

The old saying applies here as in everyone is entitled to their own opinions just not their own set of facts.

These miscreants should crack open a book or two.

[dalton99a]

58. "He doesn't know what they're talking about"

Sanford was identified as the man in question after one of his friends recognized him from the released photos. Sanford was identified on Tuesday to the FBI's Pennsylvania outpost before being charged on Wednesday in US District Court, CNN reports.

On Thursday, Chester mayor Thaddeus Kirkland released a statement noting that Sanford is no longer an employee of the city, as he retired last year: "...While Robert Sanford adorned a hat with a Fire Department logo, he is not a current employee of the city of Chester."

Sanford made his initial appearance in a federal court in Pennsylvania on Thursday afternoon, the Morning Call reports. He was denied release and will now stay in custody of the U.S. Marshals until he is moved to D.C.

While executing a search warrant of Sanford's Pennsylvania home, authorities allegedly found a tee shirt linked with the far-right group Proud Boys, 6ABC reports.

Sanford claims he doesn't own a Proud Boys t-shirt, his attorney Enrique Latoison noted after Thursday's hearing. "He's not involved in any white supremacist organization whatsoever and he doesn't know what they're talking about," Latoison said, the Morning Call reports, though Latoison admitted his client had taken a free bus trip to the pro-Trump rally in D.C. on January 6.

https://people.com/crime/retired-firefighter-who-allegedly-threw-fire-extinguisher-at-capitol-police-is-arrested/