Fanone Calls for the Indictment of Trump –

Staff Report –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A radical, right-wing militia member and avid Trump supporter from California who tased Metro Police officer Michael Fanone during the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison this week for assault and other charges and ordered to pay $96,927 to the victim and $2,000 in restitution to the Architect of the Capitol.

Daniel Joseph “DJ” Rodriguez, 40, of Fontana, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson to 151 months in prison for conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding, obstruction of justice, and assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

According to court documents, in the fall of 2020, Rodriguez was the administrator of a Telegram group chat titled PATRIOTS45MAGA Gang, initially created to bring together supporters of former President Trump in the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential election. It became a forum for Rodriguez’s plans for violence against the seat of the federal government. In the group, Rodriguez and his co-conspirator, defendant Edward Badalian, wrote hundreds of messages about war and revolution, about traitors and tyrants.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Rodriguez and his group traveled from California to Washington, D.C., to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on the National Mall. After the rally, Rodriguez made his way from the Ellipse to the Capitol building, illegally traversing the west front of the Capitol grounds and entering the lower west terrace tunnel at approximately 2:46 p.m.

A short while later, court documents state that video footage taken from the incident depicts Rodriguez at the first set of double doors of the Capitol building facing the police line and deploying a fire extinguisher at the line of officers present.

Shortly afterward, court documents say that Rodriguez is seen using a long wooden pole and shoving it toward officers in the line. Rodriguez then participated in an unsuccessful coordinated shove against law enforcement officers in the police line in an attempt to gain access to the building.

At approximately 2:52 p.m., Rodriguez is seen waving his arms at the rioters outside the tunnel, encouraging them to push forward toward the police line. It is then, court records say, that fellow rioter Kyle Young tapped Rodriguez on the shoulder and provided him with a small, black, rectangular electroshock weapon. Rodriguez is then observed activating the weapon and lunging at officers in the police line. Rodriguez is then seen leaving the tunnel only to return a short while later.

After Rodriguez returned to the lower west terrace tunnel, court documents state that video footage taken from the scene of the incident depicts one rioter, Albuquerque Head, wrapping his arm around the neck of an MPD officer and dragging the officer out on to the steps of the lower west terrace. Rodriguez is then seen making his way toward the officer and, with the electroshock weapon in hand, plunging it into the officer’s neck. As the officer attempted to escape, court records state that Rodriguez struck again, placing the electroshock weapon on the back of the officer’s neck.

Following the assault on the officer, Rodriguez then entered the Capitol building and continued to vandalize offices, ransack rooms, break windows, and steal other items. Before, during, and after the Capitol breach, Rodriguez sent multiple images and text messages to members of the Telegram group, documenting his assault on the Capitol and the MPD officers, as well as his desire to commit violence and destruction.

Fanone Makes Statement Calling for the Indictment of Trump

The officers who was assaulted, Michael Fanone, was in the courtroom for the sentencing of Rodriquez, but left in disgust during his statement to the court, according to on the ground reporting from The Washington Post

In court, he called for the U.S. Department of Justice to indict former President Donald Trump for inciting the violent insurrection, suspending the peaceful transfer of power and trying to overturn the 2020 election.

He spoke for the fourth time at the sentencing of someone who assaulted him on that day. This one was the worst of the bunch, he said, the man who repeatedly drove a stun gun into his neck as he was trapped by the angry Capitol mob, rendering him unconscious and leaving scars on his skin.

“I don’t care about Daniel Rodriguez,” the former Metro D.C. police officer said in court. “I ceased thinking about him as a person a long time ago.”

Fanone said he was focused on the leader who convinced Rodriguez and his friends that the 2020 election was stolen and must be taken back by force.

“Pursue an indictment against Donald Trump,” Fanone told the roomful of federal prosecutors and spectators. “No one in this country is above the law.”

But when Rodriguez stood up and began arguing that not all police officers are good actors, referencing the death of George Floyd, Fanone left the courtroom in disgust.

“I wasn’t going to listen to that guy ramble on about his justifications,” Fanone said outside the courtroom. In a nod to the Adam Sandler movie “Billy Madison,” he said, “We are all dumber for having listened to it.”

Only after Fanone walked out did Rodriguez spend about a minute of his half-hour speech apologizing for shocking the police officer with a stun gun.

Rodriguez said in court that he became active in political rallies to “fix the system” and that he “could not join” the side of Black Lives Matter, whose supporters he described as “young thugs” engaging in “angry acts of hate” against police.

Judge Jackson later noted that Rodriguez was exactly the kind of violent, anti-police agitator he claimed to be resisting — “a one-man army of hate.”

In chats in the days leading up to the rally, Rodriguez told friends to bring knives, ax handles and bear spray. He organized a van ride from California so they wouldn’t be searched for weapons. “There will be blood,” he wrote. “Welcome to the revolution.”

At the Capitol, Rodriguez joined the mob pushing against police who held a shaky line barring rioters from entering the Capitol through a West Terrace tunnel. Fanone was one of the D.C. police officers who volunteered to help reinforce the exhausted Capitol Police members guarding the building.

Video shows Rodriguez being handed the electroshock weapon while pushing against police in the tunnel. He tests it out; a couple of times he lunges toward the officers with the device in his hand. When the officers succeeded in pushing the rioters back from the tunnel entrance and onto the Capitol steps, Fanone was at the front of the line. He was pulled down the stairs and into the mob. Rodriguez came through the crowd to shock Fanone twice on the neck as the officer was trapped in the mass of people.

“Tazzzzed the f— out of the blue,” Rodriguez messaged his friends.

Two other men who helped attack Fanone have been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Rodriguez went on to enter the Capitol through a broken window; he joined a pack of rioters in a series of Senate offices where they tore down a door, tried to break a glass window and riffled through papers. After stealing a gas mask, Rodriguez was chased out of the building by police. Before leaving the grounds, he took a picture of a makeshift gallows set up outside the Capitol and wrote, “No Democrats found unfortunately.”

Later Rodriguez told Gina Bisignano, who came with him to D.C., to delete videos she’d taken during the riot. (Bisignano, a Beverly Hills beautician, cooperated with prosecutors in the case against Rodriguez but has now moved to withdraw her guilty plea.)

Rodriguez pleaded guilty in February to injuring an officer with a dangerous weapon and three other felonies. But his attorneys disputed that the device he used was dangerous or a weapon.

Judge Jackson said Rodriguez’s quibbling over the strength of the stun gun, along with his other “ugly, shocking” excuses, made her doubt the authenticity of his remorse. She said it was obvious from Fanone’s body-camera video how excruciating the attack was: “You can hear him screaming in pain.”

Fanone suffered a traumatic brain injury and a heart attack, losing consciousness for two minutes. He had to be pulled back behind the police line by colleagues.

From the bench, Jackson said Fanone “knows it’s not up to the court to decide” whether Trump will be charged for his “irresponsible and knowingly false claims that the election was stolen.” But whatever Trump’s responsibility is, she said, Rodriguez chose to engage in “vicious hand-to-hand combat” against police.

As part of his sentence, Rodriguez must pay $96,927 in restitution for Fanone’s medical treatment. As he left the courtroom, Rodriguez shouted, “Trump won!”

Fanone told Jackson that in any other situation, he would be laughing today with other officers about how “pathetic” his attacker was. But Jan. 6 left him not only damaged but also alienated. He left the D.C. police force at the end of 2021, saying his colleagues had turned on him for his efforts to hold Trump and Republican leaders accountable for inciting the mob that nearly killed him.

“My career, my friends, and my faith in the criminal justice system I dedicated my life to — extinguished because I did my job and lived to tell about it,” he said in court.

Fanone has one more sentencing appearance planned, in the case of the man who stole his badge and radio. After that, he said after Wednesday’s court appearance, “I’m still holding out hope that I will be issuing a victim impact statement at the close of Donald Trump’s trial.”

This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Los Angeles and Washington Field Offices, with valuable assistance from the Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Capitol Police.

In the 29 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

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