— Physician faces charges for entering restricted grounds, disorderly conduct
by Amanda D'Ambrosio, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Simone Gold, MD, JD, founder of the notorious pro-hydroxychloroquine, anti-vaccine group America's Frontline Doctors, was arrested Sunday for participating in storming the U.S. Capitol earlier this month, according to the Department of Justice.
Following Gold's confirmation that she entered the Capitol building during the riot on Jan. 6, DOJ officials arrested her in California on Sunday. Gold faces charges of entering a restricted building and for violent entry and disorderly conduct.
Department representatives did not return a query as of press time as to whether Gold has been released on bail.
Along with Gold, federal officials also arrested John Strand, communications director for America's Frontline Doctors, who was pictured with the physician at the event.
Gold joined the mob that stormed Capitol Hill in an attempt to disrupt the 2020 election certification process. She spoke at protests in Washington, D.C., leading up to the riot, casting doubt on the vaccines and claiming that COVID-19 is non-fatal. Gold stated that citizens must not comply with taking "an experimental, biological agent deceptively named a vaccine."
The California-based physician told the Washington Post that she was indeed inside the Capitol, as she followed a crowd and assumed it was legal to do so. Several photos of Gold at the insurrection have circulated online, as well as a video of her making a speech to rioters inside the federal building.
Starting on the day after the riot, federal investigators received photographs of Gold and Strand during the riot. The pair was also captured on video at the doors of the federal building, in the middle of a crowd attempting to push past law enforcement officials to get inside. In this footage, one law enforcement official appeared to be pulled down by someone in the crowd and landed right where Gold and Strand were standing, according to the FBI's affidavit supporting the arrest warrant.
Prior to her involvement on Capitol Hill, Gold gained notoriety for spreading misinformation about the pandemic. Last July, she led a press conference in front of the Supreme Court in which she and other members of America's Frontline Doctors touted the benefits of hydroxychloroquine and criticized lockdown restrictions. Gold has also attempted to sow fear of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Last Updated January 21, 2021
Amanda D'Ambrosio is a reporter on MedPage Today’s enterprise & investigative team. She covers obstetrics-gynecology and other clinical news, and writes features about the U.S. healthcare system.
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