St. Louis Cardinals superfan ‘Rally Runner’ sentenced to prison in Capitol riot case

A St. Louis Cardinals superfan who used a police riot shield to lead a mob in overrunning a line of officers at a key Capitol entrance on Jan. 6 was sentenced Thursday to 10 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release.

Rally Runner, 44, also must pay $2,000 restitution for the more than $2.9 million in damage to the Capitol and a $1,000 fine.

Runner, who court records say legally changed his name from Daniel Donnelly Jr., appeared before Judge Jia M. Cobb in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years’ supervised release. The government requested a sentence of 27 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $2,000 restitution.

Runner was indicted Oct. 11, 2023, on charges of civil disorder, a felony, and four misdemeanor counts: disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings; and entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds.

The government dropped the other charges in exchange for his March 22 guilty plea on the civil disorder count.

Runner is the 29th of the 37 Missouri residents charged in Capitol riot cases to be sentenced. Two other Missouri defendants have been convicted and await sentencing, and the cases of another six are pending.

According to the government’s sentencing document filed with the court, Runner traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend former President Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse.

“On January 6, 2021, Runner attended the rally and intended to show his support by running around the rally in what he called a ‘Rally Run,’” the document said. “Throughout the day, he wore a red ‘Keep America Great’ hat, a red jacket, and red face paint.”

Runner made his way through the crowd on the Capitol grounds and up to the Lower West Terrace doorway, also known as “the tunnel,” the sentencing document said. The area was filled with rioters, it said, and officers were in the tunnel. The police and rioters faced off at the tunnel entrance as the rioters tried to invade the building.

Runner stood just outside the tunnel, the government said, helping rioters pass a ladder toward the opening. At about 4:10 p.m., it said, he moved to the front of the crowd at the tunnel’s entrance, holding a police riot shield that he had obtained.

As police tried to push the rioters out of the tunnel, some surged forward to attack the officers, the document said. Runner stood in place, holding the riot shield while facing off with police.

‘Kicking, screaming and fighting’

“All around, rioters engaged in violent physical attacks against the officers, kicking, screaming, and fighting,” the sentencing document said. “Several rioters used Runner as a human shield; one leaned over Runner and sprayed chemical irritants toward the police while Runner held the shield upright.”

When the violence began to de-escalate, the government said, Runner formed a wall of shields with other rioters, facing off against police. Rioters then again used Runner as a shield, lunging past him to attack officers.

“With the mob surging into the mouth of the tunnel, a knot of rioters formed against the police line,” the document said. “The crowd, bodies clustered tightly together, squeezed forward into the tunnel.”

Runner — who was six-foot-five and weighed 220 pounds — muscled his way into the police line and for several minutes held the shield in front of him, slowly creeping forward, the government said. He continued to gain ground into the tunnel, it said, and was able to force the line of police nearly into the Capitol.

After about 10 minutes, the sentencing document said, more officers arrived and helped push Runner and the others out of the tunnel.

“On his way out, Runner paused at the mouth of the tunnel, looked out on the crowd, and triumphantly extended his fist into the air,” the government said.

Later that day, the document said, while still wearing his red “Keep America Great” hat, red jacket and red face paint, Runner posted a 26-minute video on his Facebook page.

“In it, he described his actions on January 6 and reveled in the violence he had been a part of,” the government’s filing said.

In the video, according to the government, Runner said, “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.”

The document said Runner then added: “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, and it turned out to be a great strategy because the whole crowd was doing that, was able to push further than we had gotten the whole time, the entire time.”

Runner said the rioters pushed police “all the way into the doors.”

“It was working until more cops showed up,” the document quoted Runner as saying. “I’m right at the front of it and got through those doors into the Capitol, and that’s when reinforcements came.”

Runner said “the burning of the mace was horrible, I mean my skin is already sensitive so I think it affected me more than others, but I withstood it pretty well and I was like even when I was inside and I was breathing it in I was like alright I can handle this, this isn’t that bad, I’m not going to let this deter me.”

Then he added: “I got further than anyone, I literally got further than anyone. I helped us get that far.”

FBI agents interviewed Runner on Jan. 11, 2021, the document said.

“During that interview, he acknowledged that he had been at the Capitol on January 6. He said he had ‘been given’ a riot shield, and he denied having entered the Capitol building. He did not express any remorse or regret for his actions that day.”

The government said Runner, who is unemployed, has “a significant history of arrest and conviction” dating back to the 1990s. It includes possession of a controlled substance, passing bad checks, violating an order of protection, trespassing, burglary, stealing a motor vehicle, witness tampering and criminal trespass. Some of the crimes resulted in prison sentences.

A St. Louis Cardinals tribute

Prior to his sentencing, Runner submitted five letters of support from his mother, a neighbor, his former attorney and friends.

“Rally is extremely fond of the St. Louis Cardinals and he created the rally run as a way to pay tribute to them,” wrote his mom, Angela Wexelman. “He truly felt he helped them by running around the stadium and praying for them …

“Rally was wrong to go to DC on Jan. 6th. However, he is not and never has been involved with any groups or organizations ... Rally really wanted to go and pray for Trump just as he did for the Cardinals.”

Runner’s former attorney, Al Watkins, who also has represented other Jan. 6 defendants, called Runner “a gentle man” who “has been addressing patent mental health vulnerabilities since high school.”

“Those vulnerabilities were exploited by his classmates for entertainment purposes,” he said.

Watkins said Runner became a positive fixture in St. Louis, running around Busch Stadium during home games while painted in the team’s red colors.

“He sincerely believes his positive energy proved to bring his home team ‘birds on the bats’ the extra oomph to prevail,” he wrote. “To most, he was a happy, gentle, vigorous and welcome part of the baseball experience.”

Watkins said in the years leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, “we did not protect those among us who were vulnerable.”

“People in the past who were protected, we left to fend for themselves as they were barraged with exploitative words and actions,” he wrote. “Absent grace, we are no different than Mr. Runner’s high school classmates who plied him with drugs because he was fun to watch while impaired … a party favor of sorts.

“Grace is in order.”