3 Years In Prison For ‘Bear Spraying’ Police On Jan. 6

Edward Rodriguez, 31, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for assaulting eight police officers with bear spray at the January 6, 2021, invasion of the U.S. Capitol Building. Another report for the “F*cked around, found out” files. https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1721647551923785997 From the Justice Department:

According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Rodriguez deployed bear attack deterrent spray on multiple police officers during the riots outside the U.S. Capitol Building. The assault was captured on video posted to social media.

Rodriguez was also seen among a crowd of protesters at the plaza level of the west side of the U.S. Capitol, where he pointed a spray canister at visibly marked law enforcement officers manning a barricade on the plaza and sprayed the officers with a bear attack spray before he retreated into the crowd.

Rodriguez also was recorded on video being interviewed on the scene by an independent reporter. In that video, he stated, “Here in America, we fight back. We will never surrender to dictatorship, corruption, communism, or socialism. We the people will never put up with their bullsh-t….”

Additionally, in body-worn camera video from Metropolitan Police Officers (MPD), Rodriguez was recorded as he deployed bear attack spray at MPD officers stationed at the West front barrier of the Capitol grounds. During portions of these videos, Rodriguez wore a red mask, but for brief moments, he pulled the mask down below his face.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty earlier this year in March. Following his time in prison, Rodriguez will also face 36 months of supervised release. NBC News reports that Judge Dabney L. Friedrich found Rodriguez to have “diminished capacity” and had been “easily manipulated.” Rodriguez also apparently believed that the dozens of form email messages he received from the Trump campaign and its affiliates about Jan. 6 were personal invitations from the Donald rather than mass mailings.

Edward Rodriguez had “diminished capacity,” so he actually believed what Donald Trump was saying about the 2020 election. He also thought the Trump emails with his name on them were actual personalized emails (and not mass mailings). https://t.co/rproNU2Wf5

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) November 6, 2023

At his sentencing, Rodriguez told the court he was not in a good place at the time of the deadly invasion of the Capitol and that he was “spending too much time reading crazy stuff online” and became “disconnected from reality.” Judge Friedrich’s sentence was less than half of what prosecutors had sought, citing Rodriguez’s mental health needs.