A Florida man has been charged after he was caught on video attacking police officers with a fire extinguisher.
Robert Scott Palmer, 53, from Clearwater, Florida, could be seen wearing an American flag jacket with pins and a baseball cap bearing the name of former President Trump.
Palmer, who runs a cleaning and restoration business, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding officers, engaging in civil disorder, and entering restricted building or grounds.
Palmer's identity was first revealed on March 5 but was only arrested this week.
Video in a tweet allegedly shows Palmer spraying and then throwing a fire extinguisher at a line of police officers and ultimately striking one of them.
Robert Scott Palmer, 53, from Clearwater, Florida was allegedly caught on video assaulting Capitol officers with a fire extinguisher during January 6 riots. He was arrested Wednesday
Video footage of the man throwing the fire extinguisher was posted to Twitter and YouTube
On the day of the Capitol riots, he gave his own name and hometown to a reporter for an interview which was later posted to YouTube.
'I'm just going about it and letting them make the mistakes that they want and ruin the country as they want, and I'm just trying to live my life right now,' he said to HuffPost when the publication called for an interview.
'I'm just going to just leave it like that. I'm not getting myself any — not deeper, 'cause I didn't do anything wrong — but I'm not involving myself anymore
'I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not saying anything ― anything more. OK?' he said.
Palmer has been identified as the person allegedly responsibly for spraying officers and then throwing the fire extinguisher at them. He has been charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding officers, engaging in civil disorder, and entering restricted building or grounds
Palmer's name was already in the hands of the FBI having received hundreds of thousands of tips about the Capitol attack and those who participated
Palmer's name was already in the hands of the FBI having received hundreds of thousands of tips about the Capitol attack and those who participated.
The Post explained Palmer has a criminal record that includes being sentenced on charges of battery and felony fraud.
He was identified by an online sleuth who found him giving a livestream interview in which he gave out his name.
After sending in her tips to the FBI, his image was uploaded to its page of Capitol suspects as FBI #246 - AFO, for assault on a federal officer.
The U.S. Justice Department has said it expects to file criminal charges against more than 100 additional people who allegedly participated in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, in what it described as probably the most complex investigation it has ever handled.
Thousands of rioters broke through barricades and forced Congress to evacuate
More than 300 people already face charges stemming from the siege, which left five people dead and more than 130 police officers injured as thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump tried to prevent Congress from certifying his election defeat.
'The investigation and prosecution of the Capitol Attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence,' federal prosecutors said in the court filings last week.
The FBI has been increasingly focused on suspects with ties to right-wing extremist groups like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.
More than 900 search warrants have been executed in almost all 50 states and the District of Columbia, prosecutors said.
The evidence accumulated so far includes more than 15,000 hours of surveillance and body-worn camera footage from multiple law enforcement agencies, the Justice Department said.
Investigators for the District of Columbia says they have identified over 540 suspects and arrested more than 315 to date in connection with the Capitol siege
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