Ashland doctor pleads guilty to attacking police on Jan. 6

Prosecutors said Jacquelyn Starer breached the U.S. Capitol building and punched a police officer in a standoff near the Rotunda.

Jacquelyn Starer, a 70-year-old Ashland doctor, pleaded guilty Tuesday to attacking a police officer and other offenses related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In total, Starer pleaded guilty to eight felonies, including civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. She also pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor offenses related to her presence in and around the Capitol building during the riot, according to prosecutors. She is set to be sentenced on Sept. 5.

Starer left Massachusetts for Washington, D.C., to attend former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, according to court documents. Afterward, she was a member of the crowd that moved to the Capitol building and entered via the East Rotunda doors at about 2:51 p.m.

She then entered the Rotunda, where Trump supporters faced off with Metropolitan Police Department officers and U.S. Capitol Police officers. The law enforcement officers were attempting to protect the west entrance of the Capitol Rotunda from a crowd of rioters, prosecutors said. The standoff occurred near former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

Just before 3 p.m., Starer approached the officers and was pushed up against another rioter with outstretched arms. Starer pointed her finger toward the officers, then grabbed the arm of the other rioter and pushed it down. She turned to face the rioter and was pushed back by police, according to court documents.

Starer then hit the officer with her closed fist, prosecutors said. She moved away from police and then back toward them yelling expletives.

Body camera footage obtained by The Boston Globe shows the chaotic moments.

Starer is a gynecologist and addiction specialist, the Globe has reported. She has served as president of the Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine and as a consultant to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. She also worked as a double board-certified attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital.

She was arrested on Dec. 20, 2022 in Ashland.

In total, more than 1,385 people have been charged in connection to the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol, according to officials.