By: Manny Otiko, IVN
Fontana resident Daniel Rodriguez has been sentenced to 12 ½ years in jail for his activities at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He was also ordered to pay Officer Michael Fanone $96,000 in damages. Rodriguez’s sentence is one of the highest for Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Elmer “Stewart” Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, received the longest sentence at 18 years.
Rodriguez was one of thousands of former President Donald Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol in an attempt to delay the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. However, Rodriguez is one of the worst offenders. He fought with police officers and tased Fanone multiple times. Fanone suffered a heart attack and almost died. He begged the mob not to kill him and said, “I have kids.” He was eventually rescued from the mob by fellow officers.
After he returned to California, Rodriguez bragged about his activities.
“Tazzzzed the f— out of the blue,” said Rodriguez in a social media message.
During his sentencing, Rodriguez refused to apologize to Fanone, who was present. According to witnesses, he gave a rambling excuse for his decisions.
Rodriguez, like many Trump supporters, may not have had a firm grasp of the facts. He was a fan of Alex Jones’ conspiracy show “InfoWars,” and also believed in the QAnon conspiracy theory. Rodriguez, a high school dropout, attempted to join the military, thinking he would be fighting for Trump. And on Jan. 6 he came to the Capitol believing that he would be defending it against “antifa terrorists.”
As he was being taken away, Rodriguez said, “Trump won.” This has been debunked multiple times. The former president’s election legal team lost 60 cases trying to prove this. Also, former Attorney General Bill Barr said he could find no proof of election fraud. Trump even commissioned two teams to find election fraud, and they couldn’t find any evidence.
Fanone still suffers from the injuries he received during the Capitol attack. He quit the police force because his outspoken views put him at odds with fellow officers.
“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 told the court.
Fanone has written a book about his experiences and is now a commentator for CNN. He remains frustrated that the senior leaders of the insurrection have not been punished. To date, not one of the president’s inner circle has been indicted for Jan. 6.
“Your honor, we must all join in the fight against Donald Trump and the destructive, divisive movement he has come to represent,” said Fanone in a statement to the court. “We must offer him no safe harbor and to his enablers — whether in business, in politics and the media — give no quarter. In the fight to preserve our Republic, there can be no spectators.”
