UPDATED: FBI Arrests OB-GYN Doctor in Ashland In Connection with Insurrection at U.S. Capitol

BOSTON – Dr. Jacquelyn J. Starer, 68, of Ashland, was arrested Tuesday, December 20, by the FBI, in connection with the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The U.S. Justice Department charged her with felony civil disorder, assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, and entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building as well as engaging in physical violence in a restricted building.

Police body camera video shows Starer as she strikes a female Metropolitan Police Department officer inside the Capitol’s rotunda, according to the affidavit filed.

The officer told authorities investigating the attack a “blonde woman wearing a red hat and jacket punched her in the left side of her head.”

Starer, who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology, works at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The Commonwealth Board of Registration in Medicine has her first licensed to practice in the state in 1983.

Her profile was visible on the hospital’s website earlier today but has since been removed. Before it was removed it stated “Jacquelyn J. Starer, MD is affiliated with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and specializes in Internal Medicine in Jamaica Plain.”

Brigham & Women’s Hospital issued a statement on Tuesday. “Per hospital policy, the only information we are able to share is employment status. This individual was a per diem employee who is no longer active at our organization.”

Dr. Starer is also listed with Downes Therapeutics LLC in Natick. “Dr. Starer graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health in 1979. She works in Natick, MA and 2 other locations and specializes in Addiction Medicine, Gynecologic Oncology and Obstetrics & Gynecology.”

She has served as the president of the Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine. 

This is her bio on massmed.org She has served on the Physician Health Services, Inc. (PHS), a nonprofit corporation that was founded by the Massachusetts Medical Society to address issues of physician health.

Starer, 68, was arrested today in Ashland. She is expected to make her initial appearance later today, December 20 in the District of Massachusetts.

According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Starer illegally entered Capitol grounds.  She went into the Capitol through the East Rotunda Doors.  Video from body worn cameras worn by Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers shows Starer approach MPD officers and make contact with an MPD officer at approximately 2:59 p.m. Shortly thereafter, Starer struck an MPD Officer.

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At approximately 3:06pm, surveillance video shows Starer exited the U.S. Capitol from the East Rotunda Doors. Additional reviews of open-source video also show Starer, on January 6, 2021, exiting the east side of the U.S. Capitol Building.

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Boston Office-Worcester Resident Agency and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Starer as #405 on its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

In the 23 months since Jan. 6, 2021, close to 900 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 270 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing. 

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