Rally Runner, formerly known as Daniel Donnelly, Jr. pleaded guilty to his role in the U.S. Capitol riots. (Photos from court documents)
A face-painting St. Louis Cardinals superfan once accused on ex-Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson’s show of being a Jan. 6 plant admitted to clashing with a phalanx of officers guarding the U.S. Capitol during the riots.
Rally Runner, formerly known as Daniel Donnelly, Jr., 43, pleaded guilty to a felony offense of civil disorder. He faces up to 30 months in prison and fines of up to $40,000 when he is set to be sentenced on July 30.
Runner’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, said his client “wanted to accept responsibility and move on with the next chapter of his life,” NBC News reported.
Runner traveled to Washington to participate in Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally that day.
Wearing a red “Keep America Great” hat, red jacket, and distinctive red face paint, Runner went to the Capitol building and to the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement that day, court documents said.
Holding a police riot shield he had found earlier, Runner faced off with officers trying to move rioters out of the tunnel. At one point, Runner held up the shield, forming a wall with other shields held by other rioters.
Using his shield to push officers back, Runner led the rioters forward for several minutes. They pressed against officers, gaining ground and forcing the phalanx of police into the Capitol building. Ten minutes passed when a second group of officers joined their colleagues to push the rioters out of the tunnel.
After being forced out of the Tunnel, Runner celebrated his effort in a video on his Facebook page.
“I get a riot shield, and I’m not trying to cause any violence, but I’m trying to be the furthest person to get through all the way, or at least get the furthest,” Runner said in the video. “I took up a lot of space, and I had the rioter shield, and I was right up there, and for some reason, like, the other people up there on the front lines with me, they did something similar … It’s like they followed my lead, kind of.”
He was arrested last August in St. Louis.
On his former Fox News show, Carlson claimed Runner was “clearly a law enforcement officer” and an “agent provocateur” trying to smear the former president’s supporters.
Runner used to jog around Busch Stadium during home games to help “strengthen the spirit for the Cardinals,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
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