A January 6 rioter who allegedly used an «electric shock weapon» to assault Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone and then bragged about the attack to friends is expected to plead guilty to related charges on Tuesday.
«OMG I did so much f—ing s—rn and ran away, I’ll tell you later,» Daniel «DJ» Rodriguez, of Fontana, California, wrote in a group chat with other rioters, according to a report. accusation filed in federal court in Washington. «Tazzzzed the f—out of the blue.»
Rodríguez is charged with eight federal counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding; impede, obstruct or interfere with a law enforcement officer during the commission of a civil disorder; and assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.
His case was scheduled to go to trial this month.
Another rioter involved in the Fanone attack, an Iowa man named Kyle Young who had brought his 16-year-old son to the Capitol, was sentenced in September to more than seven years in prison.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez and another California man, Edward Badalian, were part of a Telegram group chat called the «Patriots 45 MAGA Gang.» He accusation described the chat as «a platform to advocate for violence against certain groups and individuals who supported the results of the 2020 presidential election, supported what the group perceived to be liberal or communist ideologies, or held positions of authority in government.»
Badalian posted in the chat that he planned to drive to DC and said «we need to violently eliminate traitors,» according to the indictment. Rodríguez posted that he was in: «Congress can hang up. I will. Please let us get these people omg,» he wrote. They left Los Angeles for DC in a van with other protesters on January 3, prosecutors said.
Badalian told the «chat that he had respirators, masks, snow goggles, knee pads and baseball helmets for the group,» the indictment says, adding that they joined a «caravan» of other protesters along the way.
The couple attended then-President Donald Trump’s rally at the Ellipse before heading to the Capitol and had to coordinate walkie-talkies, according to the court filing.
When violence broke out on the Capitol grounds, prosecutors said Rodriguez was in the middle. He «threw a flagpole into the police line» and «deployed a fire extinguisher at the officers,» the indictment says.
Another rioter gave Rodriguez a stun gun, which he used on Fanone as the crowd advanced and harassed the officer. Fanone «subsequently lost consciousness and was later admitted to Washington Hospital Center for treatment of his injuries,» the feds said.
Fanone suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury during the attack, and give up of the police department that had served for 20 years as of December 2021.
Badalian has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial on February 27.
At least 985 people have been arrested in connection with the January 6 riots and 500 have pleaded guilty, according to information released this month by the US Attorney’s Office for Washington, DC.