January 6 Rioter Yells ‘Trump Won’ After Sentencing, Officer He Assaulted Responds ‘He’ll Have 13 Years to Think About That’
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
Daniel Rodriguez, one of several rioters who stormed the U.S. Capital on January 6, 2021, was sentenced to 151 months in prison, about 12 and a half years.
In February, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to four felony counts including “conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, tampering with documents and inflicting bodily injury on an officer with a dangerous weapon.”
That officer was DC Police Officer Michael Fanone, whom Rodriguez assaulted with a stun gun. He was present at the sentencing, where Rodriguez was handed one of the longest sentences in the January 6 cases. As Rodriguez was led out of the court by U.S. marshals, he shouted, “Trump won!”
Fanone told reporters, “He’ll have 13 years to think about that.”
He also stated that he wants to see former President Donald Trump prosecuted for his role in January 6: “I’m still holding out hope that I’ll be delivering a victim impact statement at the conclusion of Donald Trump’s trial.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Paschall described the details of Fanone’s assault in her sentencing memo:
“With his electroshock weapon in hand, Rodriguez reached his arm towards the side of Officer Fanone’s neck, landing the device on the side of Officer Fanone’s neck, below the left ear of Officer Fanone’s helmet. Officer Fanone screamed in pain. Officer Fanone then jerked his head back, recoiling from the shock, and pulled his face away from Rodriguez briefly. Despite Officer Fanone’s efforts to get away, Rodriguez struck again, placing the electroshock weapon on the back of Officer Fanone’s neck, below the ‘M’ of the ‘MPDC’ logo on his helmet. The electrical spark of the weapon rang out… and Officer Fanone screamed again.”
Rodriguez later bragged on Telegram: “I did so much f***ing s*** rn and got away tell you later,” he wrote, adding later, “Tazzzzed the f*** out of the blue.”
Attorneys for Rodriguez tried to paint their client as someone who was led astray by Trump, whom Rodriguez viewed as a father figure, something he didn’t have growing up; he’d even referred to Trump as “Dad” in social media posts. Convinced of Trump’s “incendiary lies,” Rodriguez found community in the MAGA movement and “trusted Trump blindly.” They even quoted Fanone, who wrote in his book Hold the Line that Rodriguez was “so desperate for a sense of belonging that he became an easy mark for a cult.”
U.S. District Judge Amy B. Jackson was not moved by Rodriguez’s story, referring to him as one of the “most serious offenders” to stand trial for their role in the Capitol riots, calling him a “one-man army of hate” and telling him at the sentencing:
Your messages were all blood, war, weapons, hanging. You never even anticipated a peaceful gathering.
In addition to serving prison time, 27 months of which he will receive credit for time served, Rodriguez was ordered to pay “$96,927 in restitution to the DC Police Department to cover Fanone’s hospital bills and medical leave.”
