Appalling truly isn’t the word when considering who the people are that stormed the US Capitol. More and more individuals are being identified, tracked down, and arrested due to their participation in the siege that took place. It seems like the list gets more and more surprising every day. 

In an extreme and surprising case, a retired firefighter from 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.

The man identified as Robert Sanford, 55, of Chester, was arrested Thursday morning on four federal charges. The charges include knowingly entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, civil disorder, and assaulting officers engaging in their official duties.

According to the charging records, the extinguisher bounced off the heads of three officers, two of whom luckily wore helmets.

Sanford traveled by bus with other people to the Capitol, according to documents. It is documented that he told a friend when he returned home that he had been on the grounds for 10 minutes before leaving but did not mention throwing anything at officers, authorities said.

In a crazy turn of events, Sanford was identified after a longtime friend of his contacted the FBI in Pennsylvania and said they recognized Sanford from photos put out by the FBI.

The 55-year-old appeared in a federal court in Pennsylvania for an initial appearance on Thursday afternoon. He was denied release and will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals until he is transferred to Washington, D.C. 

We will continue to report on these individuals as more details are released to the public. It is simply alarming that so many people in positions of responsibility are the same ones supporting bigotry and hate. Either way, the narrative has to change.