An American flag waves below the U.S. Capitol dome on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol will hold the first in a series of hearings laying out its findings on Thursday night. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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UPDATED 2:22 PM PT – Saturday, June 18 2022
A prominent doctor and outspoken COVID-19 skeptic was sentenced to prison for entering the Capitol building on January 6. Doctor Simone Gold was sentenced to two months behind bars this week, after she pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of illegally entering the restricted building in March.
Gold, a former emergency room physician, has since expressed regret in participating in the Capitol events, asserting she ”should not have been there.” Gold followed a crowd into the Capitol, but claimed she didn’t witness any violence and didn’t think she was breaking any laws.
“I can certainly speak to the place that I was and it most emphatically was not a riot,” Gold said. “Where I was, was incredibly peaceful.”
California doctor sentenced to prison for storming the US Capitol on January 6. Dr. Simone Gold said she deeply regrets entering the Capitol, and didn’t intend to get involved in an event “that was so destructive to our nation. It’s the opposite of who I am”. pic.twitter.com/j4Z87zbAZO
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) June 17, 2022
Gold founded America’s Frontline Doctor’s, a group known for purveying COVID-19 misinformation. The judge expressed to Gold that her anti-vaccine activism wasn’t a factor in her sentencing. The Communications Director for America’s Frontline Doctor’s John Strand was also charged. He pleaded not guilty and has a trial scheduled to start on July 18.
“My reputation has been utterly shredded,” she voiced.
More than 800 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot at the Capitol. Over 300 of them have pleaded guilty mostly to misdemeanors and nearly 200 have been sentenced.
She has also been ordered to serve 12 months under supervised release and pay a $9,500 fine.