Jan. 6 rioter gets 90-month sentence in assault of DC officer Fanone

A Tennessee man was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to assaulting Washington, D.C., police officer Michael Fanone during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Albuquerque Head, 43, pleaded guilty in May to assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, and he will be placed on three years of supervised release following his prison time.

His 90-month sentence is less than prosecutors’ 96-month request, but it exceeds Head’s request to the court for 60 months. He will also pay restitution in an amount to be decided later by the court.

Court documents show Head pushed against a police line in a tunnel located in the Capitol’s lower west terrace.

Head subsequently wrapped his arm around Fanone’s neck and pulled him into the mob for 25 seconds, yelling “I got one!”

After Fanone pushed away from Head, another defendant who has yet to be sentenced, Daniel Rodriguez, allegedly tased the officer as others assaulted him and threw objects at him.

The court documents only refer to him as “M.F.,” but Fanone has publicly identified himself as the officer in question.

Fanone gained national attention after testifying publicly before the House Jan. 6 committee last summer, when he described the incident and railed against former President Trump and other elected officials who he said downplayed the riot’s severity.

“The assault irrevocably changed my life,” Fanone wrote in a CNN op-ed published last month just before the sentencing of another defendant who assaulted him. 

“I suffered a heart attack and a traumatic brain injury,” Fanone added, also noting that it required him to ultimately resign from the agency. “I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and I still struggle with PTSD nearly every day.”

Court proceedings for Rodriguez and Thomas Sibick, who also allegedly assaulted Fanone, are ongoing.

Prosecutors have arrested more than 880 individuals in connection with the riot, including more than 270 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, the Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday.