Daniel Joseph Rodriguez biography: 13 things about US Capitol rioter from Fontana, California

Daniel Joseph Rodriguez is from Fontana, San Bernardino County, California, United States. His nicknames are Danny and DJ.

Aside from Fontana, Rodriguez has also lived in other parts of California including Montebello and El Monte. He previously lived in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA and attended Camelback High School and North Canyon High School, which are both in Phoenix.

Rodriguez is a father of four. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He is 12 years older than Edward Badalian of North Hills, California.
2. On March 13, 2018, as 45th U.S. president Donald Trump‘s motorcade drove through Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, he tried to engage with the protesters lined at Centinela Avenue and wanted to know why they disliked Trump.
3. In 2020, he regularly attended demonstrations in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County to support Trump. That year, he, Badalia and others created a Telegram group chat called PATRIOT 45 MAGA Gang to support Trump.
4. On January 1, 2021, he posted in the PATRIOT 45 MAGA Gang chat a link to an AirBNB on Washington Boulevard in Arlington, Virginia, USA where he and others planned to stay.
5. On January 3, 2021, he, Badalian and others left Los Angeles, California and drove to Washington, D.C., USA.
6. On January 5, 2021, he, Badalian and others joined a caravan to Washington, D.C. in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. That day, he posted in the PATRIOT 45 MAGA Gang chat, “There will be blood. Welcome to the revolution.”
7. Wearing a Make America Great Again hat, he went to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. That day, Trump’s supporters breached the building while a joint session of Congress was certifying the vote of the Electoral College and affirming Joe Biden‘s victory in the 2020 presidential election. During the riot, he smashed a window with a flagpole, stole a bag used to hold an emergency escape hood and jabbed an electroshock weapon into the neck of Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia officer Mike Fanone. A video of him attacking Fanone went viral and he was dubbed the Taser Prick.
8. On January 10, 2021, he arrived in California and drove Badalian to someone’s home.
9. On March 24, 2021, a court filing requested that his indictment be sealed until his arrest.
10. On the morning of March 31, 2021, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested him near his home in Fontana. He made an appearance at the U.S. District Court in Riverside, California.
11. On November 19, 2021, he was indicted. For his participation in the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, he was charged with obstruction of an official proceeding; civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; theft of government property; destruction of government property; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon and impeding ingress and egress in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
12. On February 14, 2023, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, obstruction and evidence tampering.
13. He was 40 years old when he was sentenced on June 21, 2023 to 12 years and 6 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. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered 36 months of supervised release, restitution of $2,000 to the Architect of the Capitol, and $96,927 to the Metropolitan Police Department for damages to Fanone.

If you have information about someone who participated in the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit relevant photos and videos to the FBI.