Jan. 6 rioter who electroshocked D.C. Officer Michael Fanone sentenced to 12.5 years
Daniel "D.J." Rodriguez, who was wearing a MAGA hat when he drove a stun gun into the officer's neck at the Capitol, was arrested after the online "Sedition Hunters" community helped identify him.
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June 21, 2023, 11:50 AM CDT / Updated June 21, 2023, 11:54 AM CDT
By
Ryan J. Reilly
WASHINGTON — A Donald Trump supporter who drove a stun gun into the neck of a D.C. police officer who was abducted by the mob during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison on Wednesday.
Daniel "D.J." Rodriguez, a California man who traveled to D.C. with fellow Trump supporters who belonged to a Telegram group called the "PATRIOTS 45 MAGA Gang,"
pleaded guilty in February to felony conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, tampering with documents or proceedings, and inflicting bodily injury on officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon.
"There will be blood," Rodriguez wrote in "MAGA Gang" Telegram chat on the night of Jan. 5, just hours before attending Trump's rally at the White House Ellipse. "Welcome to the revolution.”
On Jan. 6, after joining the fight in the Capitol's lower west tunnel — where some of the most violent scenes of the day played out — Rodriguez attacked officer Michael Fanone, later bragging about his actions in the Telegram chat.
“Omg I did so much f---ing s--- [right now] and got away,” Rodriguez
wrote to fellow members of the Patriots 45 MAGA Gang. “Tazzed the f--- out of the blue.”
www.nbcnews.com
