WASHINGTON — A Massachusetts doctor pleaded guilty Tuesday to punching a police officer inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Dr. Jacquelyn Starer, 70, of Ashland, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of civil disorder and assaulting police and six other misdemeanor charges, including engaging in physical violence in a restricted building. According to a filing in February from her attorneys, Starer decided to plead guilty to all eight counts against her without the benefit of reaching a plea deal with the government.
Starer was identified to the FBI just days after the riot when a tipster said she had bragged to a mutual acquaintance about preparing for Jan. 6 with a mesh knife-proof shirt and a bottle of pepper spray. However, Starer wasn’t arrested until December 2022.
By that time, investigators had located footage of Starer entering the East Rotunda Doors roughly 10 minutes after they were first breached and then making her way to the front of the mob where officers were attempting to keep rioters from entering further into the building. According to charging documents, Starer walked up to another rioter who was waving and yelling, “No! No! No!” at fellow members of the mob and pushed their arm down. She then turned on an officer who approached her and punched her in the head.
“Officer M.B. stated that a blonde woman wearing a red jacket and hat punched her in the left side of her head,” an affidavit filed in her case reads. “Officer M.B. stated that the blonde woman came at her again, and Officer M.B. struck the woman in response.”
After Starer punched the officer, a scuffle between police and other members of the mob ensued. Investigators said Starer appeared to have been affected by O.C. spray deployed during the fight and left the building roughly 15 minutes later.
Starer was scheduled to be sentenced on September 5 by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly. She could potentially face a years in prison on the two felony counts. Earlier this month, former U.S. Navy interpreter Matthew DaSilva, who was convicted of the same two counts of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding police, was sentenced to 28 months, or more than two years, in prison.