An infamous participant in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol will be leading a new San Francisco Republican group.
Daniel Goodwyn, 36, has been elected president of the San Francisco chapter of the California Republican Assembly. The new branch of the state-wide organization is expected to be chartered in January.
Goodwyn’s participation in the insurrection was widely publicized. He was seen on a livestream inside the Capitol alongside other Donald Trump supporters who stormed the building in defiance of the 2020 election loss, according to federal prosecutors.
A web developer and self-proclaimed Proud Boy — the far-right, militant organization whose members were involved in the Jan. 6 attack — Goodwyn pleaded guilty to the criminal charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building and in 2023 was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
Goodwyn said the San Francisco chapter of the Republican group is still being formed and declined further comment. At the group’s first meeting this week, Goodwyn vowed to push the San Francisco Republican Party to the right, groom conservative candidates for elected offices, establish relationships with local officials, and form alliances with other conservative groups.
Seventeen people attended the first meeting, including Republican County Central Committee members and former mayoral candidate Ellen Lee Zhou.
Jason Zeng, a Republican activist who has run for local office multiple times, said Goodwyn “seemed like a good leader, and the meeting ran more organized than I thought.”
After Trump’s reelection this month, Goodwyn described himself in a social media post as a Jan. 6 “political hostage.”
“We’re only accepting Trump J6 pardons if we ALL get them — regardless of the sham charges. No man left behind! Free ALL J6ers!” Goodwyn wrote.
The San Francisco Republican Party is undergoing a shift as moderates are set to take seats on the governing board. The Briones Society, which won by a landslide in the March central committee races, is seen as centrist and has supported moderate Democrats in local races.