Physician sentenced to 9 months in prison for punching police officer during Capitol riot

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Massachusetts medical doctor who punched a police officer during a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Thursday to nine months of imprisonment followed by nine months of home confinement.

Jacquelyn Starer was in a crowd of rioters inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when she struck the officer with a closed fist and shouted a profane insult.

Starer told U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly that she isn’t proud of her actions that day, including her “regrettable encounter” with the officer.

“I accept full responsibility for my actions that day, and I truly wish reason had prevailed over my emotions,” she said.

Starer also turned to apologize to the officer whom she assaulted. The officer, identified only by her initials in court filings, told the judge she feared for her life as she and other officers fought for hours to defend the Capitol from the mob of Donald Trump supporters.

“Do you really take responsibility for your actions or are you just going to say: ‘It wasn’t my fault. Fight or flight’?” the officer asked Starer before she addressed the court.

Starer, 70, of Ashland, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in April to eight counts, including a felony assault charge, without reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.

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