WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — A Largo man who pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. realized the errors of his ways while in prison, a letter he sent to a federal judge reveals.
The four-page handwritten apology was addressed to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. In it, Robert Palmer, 54, admits to participating in the riot and comes to the conclusion that he was misled by people in power.
"They kept spitting out the false narrative about a stolen election and how it was 'our duty' to stand up to tyranny," Palmer wrote. "Little did I realize that they were the tyrannical ones, desperate to hold onto power at any cost, even by creating the chaos they knew would happen with such rhetoric."
The letter accompanied a sentencing memo which was filed by Palmer's lawyer, Bjorn Brunvand. In the memo, Brunvand asks federal prosecutors to consider a lesser sentencing recommendation.
Last week, the Justice Department recommended that Palmer serve 63 months in prison for assaulting police – the highest sentencing recommendation to date in a Capitol riot case.
Palmer's lawyer says Palmer has accepted full responsibility for his actions that day.
"Mr. Palmer realizes in retrospect that his actions hurt the nation," Brunvand writes.
"At the time of his actions, he believed that he was acting in the country's best interests. As distorted as his mindset was at that time, his heart was set on doing what he believed was right."
Prosecutors said Robert Scott Palmer, who traveled from Florida to attend former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, repeatedly assaulted police attempting to defend the U.S. Capitol Building from a pro-Trump mob by throwing a wooden plank and a fire extinguisher at them.
“Palmer then rooted around for additional materials with which to assault the police, including throwing the fire extinguisher a second time,” the Justice Department wrote in its memo.
Palmer didn’t stop there, they said. Afterward, he spoke to a reporter and admitted his goal was to “subvert a democratic election and that he hoped for military intervention to overturn the election.” He also posted statements on the Internet “falsely claiming that his actions on January 6 were purely defensive.”
If Judge Chutkan agrees with the sentencing recommendation from prosecutors, it will be the longest prison sentence handed down yet in a Capitol riot case.
Two defendants – “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley and Scott Fairlamb – have been sentenced to more than 40 months in prison. Fairlamb pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstruction and assaulting police, and Chansley pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction for being the “flagbearer” of the riot. Chansley has since hired attorney John Pierce to represent him in his appeal.
Palmer is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17 at 12:30 p.m.