Crime

Ashland doctor charged in Jan. 6 investigation released, but ordered to surrender passport

Dr. Jacquelyn Starer, 68, of Ashland, is accused of assaulting a police officer, among other felony charges, during last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.

December 22, 2022

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The Massachusetts doctor who was arrested and charged this week in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection was released Tuesday following her initial court appearance on several conditions, including that she surrender her passport and that she stay away from Washington D.C. except to attend future hearings for her case.

Dr. Jacquelyn Starer:

Mass. doctor arrested, facing felony charges in connection with Jan. 6 insurrection

Dr. Jacquelyn Starer, 68, of Ashland, was arrested Tuesday by the FBI and appeared in court in Boston. She has been charged in a criminal complaint, filed in the District of Columbia, with civil disorder; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

The doctor, who worked at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain, is accused of entering the grounds of the Capitol and going into the building through the East Rotunda on Jan. 6, 2021. Authorities said body cameras worn by Metropolitan Police Department officers showed Starer approach officers inside the Capitol around 2:59 p.m. during the insurrection, punching one of them in the head shortly after.

Investigators said the 68-year-old woman appeared to be affected by a chemical irritant during an altercation, as officers attempted to prevent the rioters from getting through the entrance behind them.

According to investigators, on Jan. 11, 2021, someone submitted an anonymous tip to the FBI, stating that they knew Starer had planned to attend the march on the Capitol. A witness approached by the FBI later identified Starer in photos released following the insurrection.

As part of the conditions of Starer’s release this week, she was ordered to surrender her passport, prohibited from traveling to Washington D.C. except to attend matters of court, and forbidden from unlawfully entering any state or federal buildings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia. She was also ordered not to consume alcohol excessively or any drugs and submit to testing, not possess any firearms, and to participate in a mental health treatment program if directed by pretrial services.

In addition to U.S. citizenship, Starer holds Austrian citizenship, according to the Boston Globe.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Starer worked as an associated attending physician with the addiction recovery program at Faulkner Hospital. In a statement earlier this week, Brigham and Women’s said Starer was “a per diem employee who is no longer active at our organization.”

Starer also previously served as president of the Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine and held a position with the Massachusetts Medical Society, according to her profile.

According to the FBI Boston, she is the 19th person from the area to be arrested and charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. More than 900 people have been arrested from across the country in connection with the Capitol breach, including more than 270 who are facing charges for assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to authorities.