Daniel Rodriguez is the Fontana, California man who drove an electroshock weapon into the neck of Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone during the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He pleaded guilty to four felonies in February 2023 and was sentenced that June to 151 months, or 12 years and seven months, in federal prison. On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump granted him a full, complete, and unconditional pardon, and he was released.
What He Did at the Capitol
Rodriguez, then 40, was part of the crowd that fought police for hours at the lower west terrace tunnel. After another rioter dragged Officer Fanone down the steps and into the mob, Rodriguez approached with a stun gun and pushed it into Fanone’s neck. When Fanone tried to get away, Rodriguez struck him again on the back of the neck with the device.1NPR. Jan. 6 Rioter Sentenced for Attack on Officer Michael Fanone
Fanone later described the scene as a “medieval battle scene” and said rioters shouted about killing him with his own service weapon. Doctors told him he had suffered a mild heart attack during the assault. He was also diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, and eventually resigned from the police force.2ABC News. Jan. 6 Rioter Who Used Stun Gun on Officer Sentenced to 12 Years
The stun gun attack was not Rodriguez’s only violence that day. According to prosecutors and court records, he also discharged a fire extinguisher at officers, shoved a wooden pole into a police line, broke a Capitol window to get inside, and stole an emergency escape hood from a congressional office suite.3DCist. California Man Arrested for Attack on D.C. Police With Flagpole and Taser During Insurrection
Why He Went to Washington
Rodriguez belonged to a Telegram group chat called “Patriots 45 MAGA Gang,” which he used with Edward Badalian and at least one other person to coordinate the trip. Members of the chat urged violence against government officials and anyone they saw as backing the 2020 election results. They gathered stun guns, pepper spray, gas masks, and walkie-talkies, and drove the equipment from Southern California to Washington.4CNN. Patriots 45 MAGA Gang Fanone Capitol Riot
On the night of January 5, Rodriguez posted in the chat, “There will be blood. Welcome to the revolution.” He also wrote, “Congress can hang. I’ll do it. Please let us get these people dear God.” After the riot, he bragged that he “tazzed the f— out of the blue.”5NBC News. Jan. 6 Rioter Who Electroshocked D.C. Officer Michael Fanone Sentenced He and others then traveled to an associate’s home to destroy evidence.6The Washington Post. Fanone Attack Guilty Plea Rodriguez Jan. 6
Arrested at his home in Fontana on March 31, 2021, Rodriguez was interrogated by the FBI for nearly three hours. He described himself to agents as a “true believer” in Donald Trump and admitted using the stun gun on Fanone. “What do you want me to tell you? That I tased him? Yes,” he said. He called himself “a piece of shit” and said of Fanone, “He’s a human being with children, and he’s not a bad guy. He sounds like he’s just doing his job.”7ABC News. FBI Interrogation Video of Alleged Capitol Rioter Released
He also spelled out his motivation. “Trump called us. Trump called us to D.C. If he’s the commander in chief and the leader of our country, and he’s calling for help, I thought he was calling for help.” He said he expected a “civil war” with leftist groups, cited InfoWars as an influence, and thought rioters would “occupy the building” for “a day or two.” Near the end of the interview he asked, “Are we all that stupid that we thought we were going to go do this and save the country and it was all going to be fine after?”8ABC7. Capitol Riot Jan. 6 Insurrection Daniel Rodriguez Michael Fanone
Charges, Plea, and Sentence
A federal grand jury initially indicted Rodriguez on eight counts, including theft and destruction of government property, entering the Capitol with a deadly weapon, and assaulting Officer Fanone.3DCist. California Man Arrested for Attack on D.C. Police With Flagpole and Taser During Insurrection On February 14, 2023, he pleaded guilty to four felonies: conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, obstruction of justice, and evidence tampering.9NBC News. Jan. 6 Rioter Accused of Attacking Officer Michael Fanone Pleads Guilty
Prosecutors sought 14 years, calling Rodriguez’s actions “acts of terrorism” and describing him as “one of the most violent defendants” from January 6. They asked for an upward departure from sentencing guidelines and roughly $99,000 in restitution.10The Hill. DOJ Seeks 14-Year Prison Sentence for Jan. 6 Rioter Who Pleaded Guilty to Using Taser on Police Officer
On June 21, 2023, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Rodriguez to 151 months in prison and ordered him to pay $96,927 in restitution to the Metropolitan Police Department.1NPR. Jan. 6 Rioter Sentenced for Attack on Officer Michael Fanone Jackson called him “a one-man army of hate, attacking police and destroying property” and told him, “You showed up in D.C. spoiling for a fight. You can’t blame what you did once you got there on anyone but yourself.” She attributed his radicalization to Trump’s “irresponsible and knowingly false claims that the election was stolen” and said she hoped the sentence would deter future political violence.11The Guardian. Jan. 6 Capitol Attack Jail Sentence After the sentence was announced, Rodriguez shouted in the courtroom, “Trump won!”12The New York Times. Daniel Rodriguez Sentenced in Jan. 6 Case
The Pardon
On the evening of January 20, 2025, his first day back in office, President Trump issued what were described as “full, complete, and unconditional” pardons covering nearly all January 6 defendants, Rodriguez among them.13U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Durbin Calls Out Pardons Given to January 6 Insurrectionists Who Violently Assaulted Police Officers The action reached more than 1,000 people and directed the Justice Department to drop hundreds of pending cases. Only a small number of defendants, mainly leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, received commutations rather than outright pardons.14U.S. Congress. Congressional Record, January 22, 2025 Rodriguez, roughly a year and a half into his 12-and-a-half-year sentence, was freed.
The clemency bypassed the standard Justice Department review process, which normally includes individual investigation and victim notification.15Lawfare. The Jan. 6 Pardons: How Many Clemency Recipients Have Faced Other Charges The inclusion of defendants convicted of violent crimes against police drew criticism across party lines. Senator Dick Durbin called the pardons “unconscionable” and “impossible to explain,” citing Rodriguez’s case specifically. Vice President J.D. Vance had said earlier that month that people who “committed violence on that day” should not be pardoned, and House Speaker Mike Johnson had said on television that “violent criminals should not” receive clemency.16Just Security. January 6 Pardons Statistics
Fanone’s Response After the Release
For Officer Fanone, the pardon wiped out whatever protective orders had been in place against the men who attacked him. On January 21, 2025, the day after the pardons were signed, he went to the Prince William County Courthouse in Virginia to seek new protective orders against Rodriguez and the four other men who had pleaded guilty to assaulting him. “I feel betrayed. I feel betrayed by my country,” Fanone told reporters. “The fact that I have to do this, to try to afford my family some degree of protection, is outrageous. But we are in an age of government lawlessness.”17NBC Washington. Former D.C. Officer Seeks Protection After Jan. 6 Attackers Pardoned