A man from St. Louis has copped to a felony rap for his part in the January 6 Capitol riot, feds disclosed. Rally Runner, formerly known as Daniel Donnelly Jr., 43, entered a guilty plea for civil disorder in a case that could see him behind bars when he's sentenced this summer.
According to court papers, Runner jumped on a plane to Washington, D.C., to cheer on the then-president at a rally before joining the mob that stormed the Capitol, fighting tooth and nail to gain entry. He wore a “Keep America Great” hat, and a red jacket, and slapped on some distinctive red face paint. Described by the Justice Department, the Lower West Terrace Tunnel became ground zero for some of the ugliest skirmishes against the boys in blue.
Runner was caught on camera, just outside the Tunnel, passing a ladder to the front before he dived into the fray, shield in hand. He had snagged the riot shield at some earlier point in the chaos. The melee saw runners push back local law enforcement, with Runner at the vanguard, the shield an extension of his will to break through.
When reinforcements arrived, the tide turned, and the crowd was squeezed back out. Runner then gloated about his actions on Facebook, saying "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" and "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,” according to court documents.
The FBI didn't let Runner’s antics slide, slapping cuffs on him on August 2, 2023, back in St. Louis. With the charges piling up since that infamous day in January, the Justice Department says over 1,358 individuals have been dragged into court over the breach, including more than 486 facing down charges for getting rough with law enforcement.
