Jan. 6 riot participant from Santa Rosa sentenced to 10 days in prison, 2 years of probation

A Santa Rosa man who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for joining the Jan. 6, 2021 mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to 10 days in federal prison and two years of probation.

Judge James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, also ordered Daniel Shaw, 56, to pay $500 to the U.S. Capitol architect for damage done to the historic seat of government during the riot.

Shaw will receive credit for the three days he was incarcerated after his initial arrest.

More than 100 police officers were injured in the attack, which caused $2.8 million in damage to the Capitol.

Shaw, who was captured on camera entering the building with his minor son, was not accused of any acts of violence. Last November he pleaded guilty to one count of “parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol building.”

He entered the plea as part of a deal in which prosecutors dropped three other misdemeanor counts against him.

Prosecutors had asked for a “significant sentence of incarceration,” because Shaw was already on probation in California during the riot and because he “has expressed no remorse for his criminal conduct on January 6, and gone so far as likening the riot to a religious revival during a post-guilty plea interview.”

Shaw and a companion on the trip to Washington D.C. texted about breaking into the Capitol before the event, according to prosecutors.

“I want to storm the house during the Electoral College vote certification,” Shaw’s companion, Kenneth Reda wrote.

“That would be great!” Shaw responded. “I think a few of them need to be made an example of so they UNDERSTAND,” he messaged, in an apparent reference to members of Congress.

Shaw and his son, who is now 16, drove across the country to Washington D.C.

Though Shaw was not seen participating in the eventual violence, he would have known entering the Capitol was illegal because he saw police officers detonate flashbang grenades and tear gas in an attempt to keep rioters out. He, his son and Reda are captured passing through the Rotunda Doors in a press of people as Capitol police officers look on.

They left the building 14 minutes later as officers began a push to force rioters out.

On a Twitter account, Shaw has continued to brag about his presence in the Capitol and post conspiracy theories that the riot he anticipated and participated in was an inside job.

Shaw’s federal public defender, however, argued that Shaw was fooled by former President Donald Trump and by media outlets.

“Operating under a truth shared by others and fed to him through media and the former President Trump himself, Mr. Shaw thought he would bring his son to a historic moment in D.C. — when the vote count would be corrected, and Mr. Trump would be named president,” Shaw’s public defender wrote in a presentencing memo.

Shaw’s social media posts and comments to prosecutors about his beliefs regarding Trump and the 2020 election “are constitutionally protected conduct” that should not increase his punishment, his attorney noted.

“While Mr. Shaw may continue to express his political beliefs, he did not go to the Capitol to cause harm, violence or destruction,” his attorney wrote. “His actions while there and since on pretrial release show that he does not pose such risks.”

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Graham at 707-526-8667 or andrew.graham@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @AndrewGraham88