The Department of Justice announced Thursday that a California man was arrested in connection with the assault on DC Police Officer Michael Fanone during the US Capitol insurrection on January 6.
Daniel Rodriguez, a 38-year-old man of Fontana, California, is accused of attacking Fanone with a flagpole and an electroshock weapon, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Rodriguez is facing multiple charges, including assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon; obstructing an official proceeding; impeding, obstructing, or interfering with an officer during the commission of a civil disorder; theft of government property; and more.
The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office arrested Rodriguez on Wednesday, March 31, the Justice Department said in a release. He then appeared before a federal magistrate judge in the Central District of California.
Fanone was one of the DC police officers who defended the Capitol complex against the attack of a pro-Donald Trump mob, after the US Capitol Police (USCP) asked the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for help as the rioters attempted to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden‘s election victory.
The officer was reportedly beaten by the rioters and was tased repeatedly. “Kill him with his own gun,” the assailants chanted while attacking him, Fanone told the media after the incident. He later found out that he experienced a mild heart attack on that day.
In late January, a student at Gallaudet University was arrested on charges related to Fanone’s assault. Another arrest — Thomas F. Sibick of Buffalo, New York — was made in mid-March. Sibick was accused of stealing Fanone’s badge and radio.
The case is currently being investigated by the FBI’s Los Angeles and Washington Field Offices, MPD and the USCP.
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