Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
a supporter of donald trump who discharged a taser into the neck of a Washington DC police officer michael fanoneduring the attack on United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, was sanctioned on Tuesday.
Daniel Joseph “DJ” Rodriguez, 40, of Fontana, Calif., pleaded guilty in February to multiple charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy and obstruction of official process, and was sentenced Tuesday to 12 and a half years in prison for “conspiracy and obstruction of official proceeding, obstruction of justice, and assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon,” the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia said in a statement.
On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) stormed the United States Capitol while a joint meeting of the two houses of Congress was being held to ratify the victory of Democrat Joe Biden against then-president Donald Trump. in the November 2020 elections.
That day, Rodríguez, who had moved from California to Washington DC along with other Trump supporters, confronted Capitol Hill agents and the Metropolitan Police in one of the complex’s tunnels, where he applied the taser to the neck of agent Michael Fanone. .
Later, Rodríguez bragged about his “feat” in a Telegram group.
Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson detailed in her sentence that Rodríguez, whom she considered solely responsible for his actions, was that day “a one-man army of hate, attacking police officers and destroying property.”
After hearing his sentence, Rodríguez left the courthouse shouting “Trump won!”, referring to the unfounded allegations by the now former Republican president that the Democrats committed electoral fraud in the 2020 elections.
Fanone has spoken publicly about what he experienced that day. He was repeatedly electrocuted as the attacking mob threatened to shoot him with his own weapon, before being taken to a safe place. Later, the doctors told him that suffered a mild heart attack from this experience.
Fanone, who spoke during today’s hearing, stated that “he did not care at all” what happens to Rodríguez: “He ceased to exist a long time ago,” he said.
The former metropolitan police officer told CNN that the sentence is appropriate, but he said that it is time for the Justice Department to indict Trump for his connection to the assault on January 6 and that for him this case will not be closed. until those responsible for planning and preparing the attack are held accountable.
More than 1,000 people have been indicted for the assault on the Capitol, of which nearly 600 have pleaded guilty.
According to data from the District of Columbia Attorney’s Office, 310 people have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from a few days to two decades in prison.
The largest sentence handed down so far has been for the founder of the far-right group Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy in November 2022.
Keep reading:
– Steve Bannon: the Trump ally who will have to testify before the grand jury in the special counsel’s investigation on January 6
– 4 members of the far-right group Proud Boys are sentenced for sedition after the attack on the US Capitol.
– Man who used a stun gun on a police officer on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 pleads guilty