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Posted: 2021-02-26T20:52:47Z | Updated: 2021-04-15T22:16:44Z

The man in the red MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN hat seemed to think he was untouchable. He joined the mob as they yelled HEAVE! HO! and tried to force their way through a police line into the Capitol building. Once inside, he used a pole to ram against a window, trying to shatter it and bring more people into the Capitol. In the most disturbing footage of all, he was caught on camera appearing to shock D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Mike Fanone with a stun gun. As rioters push Fanone down the stairs and away from other cops, video shows the man in the red cap pressing a small black device against the officers neck. Fanone instantly drops to the ground, swallowed by the mob.

The story of Fanones battle with Donald Trump supporters trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election went viral soon after their Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Fanone self-deployed to the Capitol that day, hoping to aid his fellow officers in a fight hed later describe as some medieval shit. Fanone recalled a man yelling to other rioters to kill him with his own gun. I have kids! Fanone screamed, wondering if hed ever see his four daughters again. He was beaten. He described being hit in the neck with a stun gun. He suffered a mild heart attack.

His assailant in the red MAGA hat, who has been at large since the insurrection, is 38-year-old Daniel Joseph Rodriguez from Fontana, California, HuffPost can confirm.

Rodriguez, who goes by Danny and DJ, is well known among Trump supporters in the Los Angeles area as a superfan of the former president. Multiple news outlets have featured him in their coverage of the local pro-Trump movement in recent years, in articles that included his name and photo. He regularly attended the weekly Trump rallies in Beverly Hills last year. He was recognizable there by his dark-rimmed glasses and the many distinctive pins on his hat, which has a big GOP elephant symbol on the brim.

Videos from the attack on the Capitol, as highlighted by the sleuthing group Deep State Dogs and anti-fascist activists, show a man whos identical to Rodriguez wearing the same glasses, hat, pins and sticker. In the clip of him trying to bust out the window, he yells, Get in here! Another video shows him picking up furniture and distributing it to fellow rioters, seemingly to use as battering tools.

WATCH DEEP STATE DOGS VIDEO:

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Two separate anti-fascist activists as well as a third witness who supported Trump and called himself a former friend of Rodriguez reviewed footage of the man at the Capitol and told HuffPost they recognized Rodriguez from the California rallies.

The FBI received tips about Rodriguez last month, including one from a man he assaulted on video at a Los Angeles-area rally. But it wasnt until hours after a HuffPost inquiry to the bureau for this story that the tipster heard from an FBI special agent with questions specifically about a man named Danny Rodriguez.

The lack of public law enforcement action against Rodriguez thus far illustrates the tensions that can arise when the FBI relies on online sleuths to help them identify the hundreds of suspects in their unprecedented investigation into the Capitol attacks. The FBI wants photos of Capitol insurrections to go viral , and has published images of more than 200 suspects. But what happens when online sleuthing communities identify suspects and then see weeks go by without any signs of action?

The extent of the sprawling FBI investigation is difficult to comprehend. There are hundreds of suspects, thousands of hours of video, hundreds of thousands of tips, and millions of pieces of evidence. Its a logistical nightmare, one the FBIs bureaucracy isnt necessarily designed to keep organized. The cases the feds continue to churn out are a mixed bag. Some reveal serious, well-organized criminal conspiracies, while others are easy misdemeanor cases against suspects who openly bragged about their criminal activity on social media. Some tipsters who called the FBI in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack didnt hear back from the bureau until February.

But the evidence pointing to Rodriguez is overwhelming. HuffPost obtained screenshots of Telegram chats that show the users DJ Rodriguez and Gina Bisignano in a group discussing their alleged involvement in the riot. Bisignano, a Beverly Hills salon owner, was arrested more than a month ago after she was filmed and photographed on Jan. 6 using a megaphone to encourage strong, angry patriots to come up and battle with police. Activists say she and Rodriguez are associates who have attended the same Trump rallies.