Cardinals superfan sentenced to 10 months in prison for joining mob effort against police on Jan. 6

WASHINGTON — A St. Louis Cardinals superfan was sentenced to 10 months in prison Thursday for using a riot shield to push a line of police away from an entrance to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Rally Runner, 44, formerly known as Daniel Donnelly Jr., pleaded guilty in March to one felony count of civil disorder. As part of his plea, Runner admitted he’d grabbed a dropped police riot shield and made his way to the front of a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump who were attempting to force their way into the Capitol. Once at the front, Runner used the shield alongside other members of the mob to try to force his way into the Capitol past police defending the Lower West Terrace Tunnel.

In a video posted to his Facebook later in the day, Runner bragged he helped lead the mob.

“I got further than anyone, I literally got further than anyone,” Runner said. “I helped us get that far.”

Prior to his arrest, Runner was a minor celebrity in St. Louis who would run around Cardinals’ baseball games wearing red clothes and face paint. Runner legally changed his name in 2017 to more fully adopt the persona. Photos from Jan. 6 show Runner wearing the same red clothing and face paint as he was known to wear to Cardinals games.

Federal prosecutors sought 27 months in prison for Runner, arguing he’d helped lead the mob in one of the areas that saw the most prolonged and violent attacks on police. They also said he’d celebrated his role in the riot.

“He really was proud of what he did that day,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Boylan said in court Thursday.

Runner’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum argued for a downward variance to a probationary sentence. He said Runner had suffered for years from mental illness and also submitted a number of letters attesting to his character. Rosenblum said the judge should also consider the negative effects Runner suffered after he was falsely identified as an undercover officer on right-wing media.

In 2021, Runner’s identity became the subject of a conspiracy theory when an attorney who has represented a number of Jan. 6 defendants, Joseph McBride, said on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show that Runner was "clearly a law enforcement officer" who was trying to entrap supporters of former President Donald Trump. When later confronted about Runner’s real identity, McBride told a Huffington Post reporter, “If I’m wrong, so be it, bro. I don’t care.”

Runner’s lawyer Scott Rosenblum said McBride’s claims about his client were “completely untrue” and put his safety in danger.

“It was completely scandalous on the part of this lawyer,” Rosenblum said.

Runner isn’t the only Jan. 6 defendant to claim he’d suffered after being falsely identified as an undercover federal agent by Tucker Carlson. In a defamation suit filed last year, an Arizona man named Ray Epps claimed he’d had to flee his home after Carlson promoted false conspiracy theories about him. Epps later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a restricted area and was sentenced in January to a year in probation.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb sentenced Runner to 10 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Runner will also have to pay $2,000 in restitution and a $1,000 fine.

Cobb allowed Runner to self-surrender at a later date, and agreed to recommend he be placed at a low-security camp as close to St. Louis as possible.

In the 43 months since the attack on the Capitol, nearly 1,500 people have been arrested and charged with crimes ranging from entering a restricted area to seditious conspiracy. More than 900 defendants have now been sentenced in connection with the attack.