BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn man who sprayed cops with bear repellant during the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol breach will spend the next 36 months in prison, prosecutors said.
The sentence Monday for Edward Rodriguez, 31, came after he admitted he sprayed and injured at least eight Metropolitan Police Department officers with the bear repellant, causing chemical burns and “extreme” pain that officers said felt like their skin was peeling off, court records show.
Days after the pro-Trump attack on the Capitol, Rodriguez searched “what does bear spray do to humans,” court records show.
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The answer was bleak.
“On a pain scale of one to ten, [one officer] rated a bear spray attack as a 15,” court records show. “She equated the pain to what [she] felt as a child when she but her hand directly on a hot stove top.”
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For another officer, the pain lasted days and ultimately necessitated an oxycodone and prednisone prescription for pain management, court records show.
A third officer said “he felt as though the skin on his face was ‘peeling off’ or like acid had been thrown in his face,” rating the pain a 13 out of 10.
Rodriguez told investigators he had come for the “Stop the Steal” rally and found the bear spray on the ground. Rodriguez’s attack was caught on videos posted to social media, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s say.
Prosecutors say Rodriguez can be heard in videos saying: “I was there and I just want to let you know that we in America, we fight back! … They [police officers] were pepper spraying people – but the police got it back.”
In another video Rodriguez is heard saying: “Here in America, we fight back. We will never surrender to dictatorship, corruption, communism, or socialism. We the people will never put up with their bullsh-t….”
Rodriguez was first arrested in 2022 in Brooklyn and pleaded guilty on March 13, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Rodriguez now faces 36 months behind bars followed by another 36 months of supervised release.
The Brooklyn local joins more than 1,200 people who have been charged related to the U.S. Capital Breach in 2021, including 400 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, authorities said.
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