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- A man accused of using a stun gun on a police officer during the Capitol attack has been arrested.
- The officer suffered a mild heart attack during the attack.
- Daniel Rodriguez, a known Trump superfan, faces eight charges related to his participation in the riot.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
A 38-year-old apparent Trump superfan, identified on camera as a suspect in the assault of a police officer during the Capitol insurrection on January 6, was arrested Wednesday.
Daniel Joseph Rodriguez, a California man accused of being part of a mob that swarmed DC Metropolitan Police Officer Mike Fanone during the riot, was arrested in Fontana, California, and indicted on eight counts, according to court documents.
Fanone suffered a mild heart attack during the attack and said he pleaded for his life when a crowd of rioters began to chant, “Kill him with his own gun!” The father of four told media outlets he was shocked with a stun gun during the siege and spent a day-and-a-half in the hospital recovering.
The Department of Justice indictment of Rodriguez filed last week said he used a “deadly and dangerous weapon, specifically an electroshock weapon, and inflicted bodily injury on MF.”
In video obtained by online sleuthing group Deep State Dogs, a man suspected to be Rodriguez can be seen sticking a small black device into Fanone’s neck, which causes the officer to fall to the ground. As the video continues, the suspect, identifiable by his baseball hat and glasses, attempts to breach the Capitol.
-Deep State Dogs (@1600PennPooch) April 1, 2021
A HuffPost investigation published last month reported Rodriguez’s identity and included interviews with witnesses who said they had encountered Rodriguez at Trump rallies in Beverly Hills prior to the insurrection. The outlet reported that Rodriguez is a well-known Trump fanatic, known to supporters throughout the Los Angeles area.
According to HuffPost, the FBI received tips about Rodriguez in January, including one from a man who said Rodriguez had assaulted him on video at a previous rally. But the outlet said it wasn’t until HuffPost reached out to the agency in late February with questions about Rodriguez, that the previous man heard from a bureau agent regarding Rodriguez.
Earlier this month, a New York man was also arrested in connection with the assault on Fanone. Thomas Sibick was arrested on charges including obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, taking a thing of value by force or intimidation, and assaulting or impeding officers.
Sibick was identified as a suspect in Fanone’s attack thanks to video captured by a body camera the officer was wearing, according to court documents. The criminal complaint says Sibick pulled out “objects consistent with an MPD badge and police radio. The legal documents say Sibick admitted to grabbing the officer’s badge and radio, claiming he had reached in to the mob to try and help the officer.
After initially denying his participation in the insurrection, Sibick later admitted to burying Fanone’s police badge in his backyard.
Rodriguez faces eight charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, assaulting, impeding, or resisting certain officers, theft of government property, destruction of government property, entering and remaining in 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.