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April 30, 2024 - WASHINGTON – A Massachusetts woman pleaded guilty today to multiple felony and misdemeanor offenses, including assaulting law enforcement during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Her actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
Jacquelyn Starer, 70, of Ashland, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to an eight-count indictment, charging her with two felony counts of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.
In addition to the felonies, Starer pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly will sentence Starer on Sept. 5, 2024.
According to court documents, Starer traveled from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C, and attended the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse. After the rally, Starer made her way to the Capitol building and entered via the East Rotunda Doors at approximately 2:51 p.m. Starer then made her way into the Rotunda, where a group of Metropolitan Police Department and United States Capitol police officers formed a police line to protect the west entrance of the Capitol Rotunda from a crowd of rioters near former Speaker Pelosi’s office.
At approximately 2:59 p.m., court documents say Starer moved through the crowd and to the front of the police line. 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. 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—!”
The FBI arrested Starer on Dec. 20, 2022, in Ashland.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting this case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts provided valuable assistance.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Boston and Washington Field Offices. Starer was listed as BOLO (Be on the Lookout) #405 on its seeking information photographs. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the Ashland, Massachusetts, Police Department.
In the 39 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,385 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 500 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
Source: DOJ Release
