Massachusetts doctor sentenced over punching police officer on Jan. 6
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Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
A Massachusetts physician who admitted she punched a police officer during the Jan. 6 U.S. capitol riot was sentenced to nine months in prison Thursday, the Department of Justice announced.
The big picture: Jacquelyn Starer, 71, of Ashland, joined other rioters entering the Capitol building through the Rotunda doors some 15 minutes after they had been breached after attending the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the attack and moved to the front of a police line protecting then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, per prosecutors.
![Jacquelyn Starer "lifts [her] fist before striking Officer M.B.," per a DOJ sentencing memo.](https://images.axios.com/kLs1H-TWWVVWn_brHxPuap-d6f4=/2024/09/06/1725585482120.jpg)
- "Starer approached the officers, pushed up against another rioter with outstretched arms, and pointed her finger in the direction of the officers. Starer then grabbed the arm of the rioter with outstretched arms and pushed it down," per a DOJ statement Thursday.
- "She then turned to face the rioter and was pushed back by a police officer. Starer then struck the officer with her closed fist. Starer then moved away from the officers and stepped towards them again, moving her hands toward the police, yelling, 'F— b—!'"
State of play: Starer pleaded guilty in April to an eight-count indictment, charging her with two felony counts of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers and six misdemeanor offenses.
- The physician apologized during her sentencing in court in Washington, D.C., to the police officer who had told the federal judge she had "feared for her life," AP reports.
- U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly also sentenced Starer to 24 months of supervised release and ordered her to pay $4,000 in restitution and fines, the DOJ said.
Go deeper... In photos: An hour-by-hour record of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot
