Simone Gold, the
founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, a group notorious for questioning the safety and effectiveness of COVID vaccines and promoting unproven drugs, has
pleaded guilty to participating in the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
As part of an agreement with the government, Gold pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, a misdemeanor offense. She had been facing four other charges, including the felony of obstruction of an official proceeding.
In a hearing before US District Judge Christopher Cooper, held virtually because of the COVID pandemic,
Gold admitted to entering the east rotunda door of the Capitol with other rioters, remaining for about 30 minutes, and giving a speech against vaccine mandates and lockdowns that her codefendant, John Strand, streamed online. Multiple law enforcement officers had to intervene to stop Gold’s speech.
“I plead guilty,” she said after a long pause.
Gold is set to be sentenced on June 16. The charge she pleaded guilty to has a maximum sentence of six months in prison, but her ultimate sentence is at the judge’s discretion.
As part of the plea agreement,
Gold will also pay $500 in restitution and cooperate with additional investigations.
Gold was arrested on Jan. 18, 2021, less than two weeks after the attack on the Capitol. The FBI received a string of tips about Gold’s participation, including videos and photos that showed her inside the building and using a bullhorn to address the mob.
A few days before her arrest, the Washington Post published an interview with Gold where she admitted that she’d gone into the Capitol but insisted that it was “incredibly peaceful.”
She was charged along with Strand; Gold told the Post that Strand was with her on Jan. 6 to “ensure her safety.” A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment against the pair just over a year ago, including one felony count for obstructing an official proceeding and four misdemeanors for illegally being in the Capitol, disorderly conduct, and parading.
In July 2020, Gold shot to prominence as the founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, which announced itself at a “White Coat Summit” held in Washington, DC. The group
initially pushed for an end to COVID lockdown measures and promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat the disease. By then, the FDA had revoked an initial emergency authorization for the drug’s use as a COVID treatment, after clinical trial results showed it was unlikely to be effective. The agency had earlier warned of reports that hydroxychloroquine could cause “serious heart rhythm problems” in some patients.
Billing itself as a “civil rights organization,” Gold’s group is linked to the Tea Party Patriots, a right-wing activist group, and has launched legal challenges to vaccine mandates. She has downplayed the severity of COVID and questioned the effectiveness of vaccines. “The people who die from COVID-19 are people who are kinda destined to die in this period anyway,” Gold said at a speech in Florida posted online in January 2021, claiming that the “so-called” vaccine “actually changes nothing.”
On its website, America’s Frontline Doctors promotes telemedicine appointments costing $90 with doctors who will prescribe “early treatment” for COVID with drugs including ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine — neither of which have been proven to be effective. In
September 2021, the Intercept revealed that data provided by a hacker indicated that America’s Frontline Doctors and its telemedicine partner, SpeakWithAnMD.com, had received at least $6.7 million for these consultations.
Criminal convictions can lead to subsequent disciplinary action from state medical boards.
However, Gold’s guilty plea over her actions in the Jan. 6 insurrection may not trigger action against her medical license. The relevant section of the California code states that “the conviction of any offense substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of a physician constitutes unprofessional conduct which can be cause for disciplinary action.” Whether or not an offense is “substantially related” to a doctor’s medical practice is considered on a case-by-case basis.