Retired firefighter who hit officers with fire extinguisher to serve 4 years in prison

WASHINGTON — A retired firefighter will spend more than four years in prison for striking three officers in the head with a fire extinguisher during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Robert Sanford, 57, of Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, was indicted on multiple felony counts in February 2021 and pleaded guilty in September 2022 to one count of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon.

According to charging documents, Sanford, who had recently retired from the Chester Fire Department in Chester, Pennsylvania, was captured on video during the riot throwing a fire extinguisher that struck three officers in the head. One of the officers was not wearing a helmet at the time.

Sanford was identified in part because of a blue “CFD” cap he wore on Jan. 6. A friend then contacted the FBI and reported Sanford had confessed that he was the person the FBI was looking for.

Prosecutors asked for Sanford to serve nearly five years in prison. In their sentencing memo, they said one of the officers struck by Sanford suffered swelling on his head after being hit by the fire extinguisher. Another went to the hospital for a medical examination but ultimately only suffered a headache.

Sanford’s attorney, Andrew M. Stewart, argued for a much lower sentence of a year and a day in prison. In his memo, Stewart said the pain and swelling the officer received from being struck in the head by the fire extinguisher was not significant enough to warrant an enhancement for causing bodily injury. He also argued the crowd was being attacked by officers without cause when he threw the fire extinguisher.

Notably, since his arrest, Stewart said, Sanford had begun treatment with an individual who specializes in cult deprogramming.

“During this process, Mr. Sanford was confronted with facts about the ‘stolen election’ conspiracy theory among others and how psychological manipulation is used to indoctrinate the followers of a conspiracy,” Stewart wrote. “Mr. Sanford learned how mental health problems, whether diagnosed or not, cause isolation which, when paired with belief in a conspiracy, gradually cause more isolation. He learned how the websites he was relying on for news would use algorithms to facilitate his trip down the proverbial conspiracy rabbit hole with more and more extreme articles. Consequently, it becomes easier to dismiss ideas and facts that do not fit with one’s narrative.”

Sanford himself offered a brief statement during his sentencing hearing. He apologized to the officers he struck and to his fellow firefighters, and said he hadn't come to D.C. intending to do anything but attend former President Donald Trump's speach.

"Mob mentality is real and I got caught up in it," Sanford said.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said Sanford's case was difficult because of his spotless record and his more than two decades as a firefighter. But, he said, that cut both ways.

"I don't think this was minor," Friedman said. "And of all people, a firefighter of 27 years should have known that."

Friedman ordered Sanford to serve 52 months in federal prison, with credit for the eight months he's already served. Sanford will also have to spend three years under supervision once released and pay $3,798 in restitution to one of the officers he struck to pay for medical expenses, as well as $2,000 to the Architect of the Capitol for damages caused during the riot.

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