DOJ seeks 14-year prison sentence for Jan. 6 rioter who used Taser on police
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Trump supporters fighting police during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in Washington, D.C. Photo: Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
Federal prosecutors are seeking a 14-year prison sentence for a California man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to assaulting a police officer with an "electroshock weapon" during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and other felonies.
Why it matters: Prosecutors said Daniel Rodriguez's actions during the riot amounted to domestic terrorism, calling him "one of the most violent defendants" of Jan. 6 in a sentencing memorandum filed last week.
- The sentencing recommendation isn't the longest among Jan. 6 defendants, but it's lengthier than most.
Driving the news: In addition to the 14 years in prison, prosecutors want Rodriguez to serve 36 months’ supervised release and pay nearly $99,000 in restitution, per the sentencing memo.
Catch up quick: Rodriguez was part of a Telegram group chat called the “Patriots 45 MAGA Gang," which advocated for violence against people perceived as liberal, or communist ideologies, or held positions of authority in the government," per the original indictment.
- Hundreds of messages exchanged by Rodriguez and his co-conspirator, Edward Badalian, contained references to war and revolution. They named "traitors" and "tyrants" who they believed should be in prison or dead.
- During the insurrection, Rodriguez threw a flagpole at police officers and assaulted D.C. police officer Michael Fanone with a "small, black electroshock weapon" by activating the device twice on the officer's neck, per the indictment.
- Rodriguez attacked Fanone while he was surrounded by a crowd of Trump supporters. The officer was dragged into the mob by another rioter, Albuquerque Head, who received more than seven years in prison for his actions.
What they're saying: "Rodriguez believed the 2020 Presidential election had been stolen, and those responsible should be in prison or dead. And this mistaken belief gave him the authority, in his mind, to plan an assault on anyone who stood in his way," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed late Friday.
- Prosecutors told U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is set to sentence Rodriguez on June 21, that the prison sentence recommendation was necessary to deter others from committing acts of domestic terrorism.
- "The need to deter others is especially strong in cases involving domestic terrorism, which the breach of the Capitol and the defendant’s conduct in particular certainly was," the memorandum reads.
The big picture: Rodriguez's defense attorneys, in a separate sentencing memo also filed on Friday, asked the judge to reduce the prison sentence to around five-and-a-half years, saying the defendant "believed the former president’s lies because Mr. Rodriguez deeply respected and idolized Trump."
- They argued that Rodriguez in part admired Trump because he had grown up fatherless and saw the former president as the father he wished he had. He even referred to Trump as “dad” in his social media chats leading up to the riot.
- They also said Trump was responsible for Rodriguez's and other rioters' actions because the former president "doubled down on his lies and falsely declared that he had won."
- "Millions of Americans believed his victory declaration because he was the President of the United States," the defense attorneys wrote.
Go deeper: "Bob's Burgers" actor Jay Johnston arrested on Capitol riot charges
