WASHINGTON (AP) — On Thursday, a St. Louis Cardinals superfan, Rally Runner, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol dressed in his signature outfit, which he often wore while jogging around the baseball team’s stadium.
The Missouri man, formerly known as Daniel Donnelly Jr., legally changed his name to Rally Runner. He became the subject of a baseless conspiracy theory alleging that government plants secretly incited the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Tucker Carlson featured Rally Runner on a December 2021 segment of his now-canceled Fox News show. Carlson displayed an image of Rally Runner outside the Capitol — dressed in red face paint and red clothing — while promoting conspiracy theories about uncharged “agent provocateurs” infiltrating the mob.
“Who is this person? Why hasn’t he been charged? That’s a very simple ask,” Carlson told his viewers.
Rally Runner, 44, was arrested in August 2023 on charges for using a stolen shield to assist other rioters in attacking police officers at the Capitol. He pleaded guilty in March to a felony count of civil disorder.
Alongside the 10-month prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb also ordered him to pay $3,000 in fines and restitution.
Rally Runner’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, stated that his client is “happy to put this chapter behind him” and “looks forward to continuing his growth and contributing to society.”
In a letter to the judge, Rally Runner’s mother described her son as non-aggressive and stated he went to Washington “to pray for Trump just as he did for the Cardinals.”
“He did not go to the Capitol with the intention of committing a crime; he went to be part of a protest,” she wrote. “But it turned into a violent insurrection.”
Rally Runner wore red paint, a red jacket, and a red “Keep America Great” hat during the Capitol storming. In St. Louis, he is known for running around the Cardinals’ stadium in red attire and face paint.
Rally Runner told the FBI he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and took one of the police shields that rioters were passing around. Video showed him in the crowd of rioters attacking police in a tunnel on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. According to the FBI, he and others used shields to form a wall as they clashed with police.
In a Facebook video posted on Jan. 6, 2021, Rally Runner, still wearing face paint and his Trump hat, discussed his role in the Capitol attack.
“We pushed them all the way into the doors. It was working until more cops showed up. I’m right at the front of it and got through those doors into the Capitol, and that’s when reinforcements came,” he said in the video.
Over 1,400 individuals have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. More than 900 have been convicted and sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving prison terms ranging from a few days to 22 years.
