Largo Man Pleads Guilty To Assault On Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

LARGO, FL — A Largo man pleaded guilty Monday to assaulting law enforcement with dangerous weapons during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The siege, involving hundreds of people, disrupted a joint session of Congress that was counting the electoral votes for the presidential election.

According to court documents, Robert Scott Palmer, 54, of Largo was among rioters outside the U.S. Capitol on the afternoon of Jan. 6.

At 4:53 p.m., he was standing near the archway leading from the lower west terrace to the interior of the Capitol. He admitted that while there, he threw a wooden plank at U.S. Capitol police and Metropolitan Police Department officers protecting the lower west terrace entrance.

About two minutes later, Palmer moved to the front of the line of rioters confronting the officers in the lower west terrace archway. He admitted to spraying the contents of a fire extinguisher at the officers until it was empty. He said he then threw the fire extinguisher at the officers.

Although no specific injury was tied to his actions, based on the size and weight of the plank and fire extinguisher, and the speed and force with which Palmer threw them, the objects were capable of inflicting serious bodily injury, according to court documents.

Palmer was arrested in Largo on March 17, and is scheduled to be sentenced at 12:30 p.m. Dec. 17. He faces a statutory maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for assaulting, resisting or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon.

He remains out of jail on personal recognizance bond.

A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Tampa and Washington field offices — with assistance from the U.S. Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department — after the Palmer, a Clearwater businessman, was positively identified in a video from security cameras inside the lower west terrace of the Capitol.

The FBI posted videos and still photographs on its public database of those who participated in the siege, and asked the public to help identify those in the photos and videos.

Steven M. D'Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington field office, said people continue to come forward with tips on the identities of those who took part.

"We're grateful to the members of the public who have already been a tremendous help in these investigations," D'Antuono said. "We know it can be a difficult decision to report information about family, friends or co-workers, but it is the right thing to do, and the FBI continues to need your help to identify these suspects."

The video footage shows Palmer wearing a red "Florida for Trump" baseball cap, face mask and American flag jacket throwing a wooden plank at officers, spraying police with a fire extinguisher and then throwing the extinguisher at police when its contents were used up.

Another security video from the lower west terrace tunnel shows Palmer again picking up a fire extinguisher and throwing it at police officers, the FBI said.

Five people died and more than 140 were injured when supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the vote count and overturn his defeat by Joe Biden.

Shortly after his arrest, Palmer appeared at a detention hearing in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa and was charged with one count of assaulting police officers with a deadly weapon, one count of obstructing law enforcement during an act of civil disorder and one count of unlawful entry and engaging in physical violence while armed with a deadly weapon.

His attorney, Bjorn Brunvand, told Judge Julie Sneed that his client regrets his involvement in the siege. Palmer was released on a $25,000 bond and required to surrender his passport and any firearms he owns.

With the assistance of hundreds of thousands of tips, D'Antuono said, since Jan. 6, more than 600 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including at least 185 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

With 55 people arrested to date, Florida leads the nation in the number of people charged with taking part in the riots at the Capitol.

A Tampa man who breached the U.S. Senate chamber during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection was the first rioter to be sentenced. On July 19, Paul Allard Hodgkins, 38, was sentenced to eight months in prison to be followed by 24 months of supervised release.

However, some have yet to be identified, D'Antuono said, including some "committing egregious crimes against those who have devoted their lives to protecting the American people."

"You will see officers being punched, beaten with sticks, flagpoles and their own shields as well as being sprayed with a variety of unknown substances," he said. "Speaking as a law enforcement officer — but also as an American citizen — it is alarming to watch these videos."

He asks that people scroll through the yet-unidentified people on the FBI's website.

"If you know any of these people or have information about them, please report it to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI."

People can click here for a list of all those who have been identified and arrested.

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