Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 53
- Location
- Largo, Florida
- Charges
- Civil Disorder; Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon; Assaulting, Resisting or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon, Inflicting Bodily Injury; Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon; Engaging in Physical Violence in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building; Act of Physical Violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings
- Case status
- Pleaded guilty; Dismissed in part or full; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
Publicly available video shows Robert Palmer on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, flinging a wooden plank at U.S. Capital Police and then unleashing the contents of a fire extinguisher at them, according to court documents. He then tosses the empty fire extinguisher at police officers at least twice. Wearing a red “Florida for Trump” hat, Palmer takes off his mask and identifies himself by name in one of the publicly available videos, the court documents say. According to his attorney, Palmer served two years in the U.S. Navy. Palmer was arrested on March 17, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
Case History
Palmer pleaded Guilty to one charge: Assaulting, Resisting or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon, Inflicting Bodily Injury. The other charges are dismissed. Sentenced 12/17/2021 to 63 months in prison, three years of supervised release, special Assessment of $100; and $2,000 in restitution. Palmer received a full pardon on January 20, 2025
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR - Supporting Reporting
NPR video evidence pageNPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.