DOJ seeks 14 years for Jan.6 rioter called Trump 'dad,' drove stun gun into Michael Fanone's neck

[BeckyDem]

Daniel "D.J." Rodriguez wrote in a letter to the former officer he assaulted that he wished he was smarter. The feds say his actions amount to terrorism.



June 12, 2023, 1:22 PM EDT
By Ryan J. Reilly

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are seeking 14 years in federal prison for a violent Jan. 6 rioter who his lawyers say "idolized" Donald Trump and thought of the former president as the "father figure" he never had.

Daniel "D.J. " Rodriquez pleaded guilty in February, admitting that he battled law enforcement officers on the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6 and tased former D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Mike Fanone in the neck before storming the building and smashing out a window. The government, in a sentencing memo filed late Friday, sought 168 months in federal prison along with restitution in the amount of $98,927, saying that Rodriguez's crimes were acts of terrorism that deserve an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines. Judge Amy Berman Jackson will sentence Rodriguez on June 21.

Rodriguez, his defense attorneys wrote in a separate sentencing memo, "struggled to find a place where he felt he truly belonged" and "found a cause that gave his life meaning" when he became a part of the "Make America Great Again" movement in California. Rodriguez saw Trump as "the father figure and leader Mr. Rodriguez never had in his life," with his attorneys writing that he "trusted Trump blindly and admired Trump so much" that he referred to Trump as "dad" in messages he sent to a "PATRIOTS 45 MAGA Gang" group on Telegram.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jan-6-rioter-called-trump-dad-tased-fanone-get-14-years-doj-says-rcna88853


( The judges are not giving the sentences many prosecutors want, in this case I hope he gets the full 14 years. )

[Wingus Dingus]

1. Fucking sad. Hope he gets full sentence.

[republianmushroom]

2. Good.

[Lunabell]

3. Sounds about right.

Fanone is a hero.

[Aristus]

4. I can't imagng being such a pathetic loser that latching onto Trump would give my life

any kind of meaning. Shit, Trump himself has a completely, empty, worthless, meaningless life.

[OldBaldy1701E]

5. Some people are unable to deny propaganda.

They fall for it every time. Based on the last election, I'd say about 35 million fall into that category. (The other half know exactly what they are doing. Which is the bigger danger?)

[LeftinOH]

6. Dumb and gullible. It's hard to feel pity for them, even though many

of them never had an opportunity to rise above the quagmire of intellectual neglect and ignorance that they were born into. But they're adults now - and should face adult consequences.