Upper East Side's Alleged Insurrectionist Still Free 1 Year Later

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The man who called himself Brad Holiday boasted for weeks about his plans to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory, authorities say.

"At 1 when congress certifies the election… Trump just needs to fire the bat signal… deputize patriots… and then the pain comes," Holiday, whose real name is Samuel Fisher, wrote on his website the day before the riot. Days earlier, he had sent someone a photo of two firearms that he had brought to Washington, according to court documents.

Two weeks later, Fisher would be arrested by FBI agents near East 90th Street and York Avenue — not far from his Upper East Side home, according to investigators.

Now, a year later, Fisher, 33, is a free man. Initially held without bail, he was released from custody last March, court records show, with a stipulation that he "stay away from Washington, DC" and not possess illegal firearms. The following month, Fisher pleaded not guilty to the two charges against him: entering and remaining in a restricted building, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.

His case in a D.C. federal court remains pending. Meanwhile, Fisher faces separate felony firearm charges in New York that also stem from the Capitol case, court documents show.

On Monday, federal prosecutors moved to postpone a status hearing that had been scheduled for Wednesday — the first anniversary of the riot — saying it conflicted with a hearing in Fisher's New York case.

A phone number listed for Fisher seemed to be disconnected on Wednesday, and he did not return an email requesting an interview. His attorney in the federal case, D.C. lawyer Joanne Slaight, declined to comment on any aspect of Fisher's case when reached by Patch.

"People died... but it was f---ing great"

Fisher was raised in New Jersey, where he suffered from bullying that led him to believe "everybody was out to get him, including women," a friend told the New York Times last year.

Over time, he became engrossed in online conspiracy theories like QAnon, became devoted to then-President Donald Trump, and cultivated a hatred of women, as the Times documented.

Under the "Brad Holiday" alias, he described himself as a "dating coach." Fisher ran a Facebook page and a personal website (since deleted) where he regularly posted relationship and business advice — sometimes laden with misogynistic and homophobic language — and promoted baseless conspiracy theories alleging rampant pedophilia in the upper ranks of government.

"Is Satanism a good thing? Should we conjure demons to get our goals met like the Left does?" he said in one video recorded before the riot, the Times reported. "Are women trustworthy in 2020? You tell me; I’ll tell you no."

Fisher's arrest last Jan. 20 came after a tipster contacted the FBI and shared photographs showing him participating in the storming of the Capitol, including one where he appears to be standing atop the Capitol steps, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI field agent.

"im headed to dc on the 5th," Fisher wrote on Facebook on Dec. 30, 2020, later adding that he was staying in an Airbnb in Washington.

"Haven’t slept in 2 days basically," he wrote to an unidentified person shortly before the riot. "Feel like sh-t and [tomorrow] they’re gonna steal the election then I have to drive 10 Hours back home."

One day after the riot, responding to a question about whether he had been on the "frontlines," Fisher responded: "i was there . . . it was awesome," according to the FBI.

"People died . . . but it was f---ing great if you ask me . . . i got tear gassed and pepper sprayed."

Less than two weeks later, FBI agents converged on a quiet block of East 88th Street between First and York avenues, surrounding his Chevrolet Tahoe SUV. Inside, they found a shotgun, 12 boxes of ammunition, six cases of shotgun shells, a black tactical vest, a knife and two machetes — among other items, the Daily News reported.

Fisher is next due back in New York Supreme Court on Jan. 25 for the weapons charges.

All told, more than 700 people are facing charges in connection with the insurrection — including at least 13 who were arrested in New York City.

In June, an Indiana woman was the first rioter to be sentenced, reaching a plea deal in which she admitted to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The first felony conviction happened weeks later, when Florida resident Paul Hodgkins received an eight-month prison sentence for entering the Senate chamber.

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