US Capitol rioter who shocked police officer with stun gun gets 12 years in prison

By AP 21 June 2023, 9:12 pm

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Former Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone and US Capitol Police Sgt. Harry Dunn watch as the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, June 13, 2022. (Susan Walsh/AP)

A California man who drove a stun gun into a police officer’s neck during one of the most violent clashes of the US Capitol riot is sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.

Daniel “D.J.” Rodriguez yells “Trump won!” as he is led out of the courtroom where US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentences him to 12 years and seven months behind bars for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. Only two other Jan. 6 defendants have received longer prison terms so far after hundreds of sentencings for Capitol riot cases.

The judge says Rodriguez, 40, was “a one-man army of hate, attacking police and destroying property” at the Capitol.

“You showed up in (Washington) D.C. spoiling for a fight,” Jackson says. “You can’t blame what you did once you got there on anyone but yourself.”

Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone ‘s body camera captured him screaming out in pain after Rodriguez shocked him with a stun gun while he was surrounded by a mob.

Another rioter had dragged Fanone into the crowd outside a tunnel on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, where a line of police officers was guarding an entrance to the building. Other rioters began beating Fanone, who lost consciousness and suffered a heart attack after Rodriguez pressed the stun gun against his neck and repeatedly shocked him.