Simone Gold, the founder of the pro-hrydroxychloroquine, anti-vaccine group, America’s Frontline Doctors, that gained notoriety last year for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic has been arrested for storming the Capitol.
Gold was arrested on Monday in the Central District of California, according to the Department of Justice. She has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct.
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The FBI also arrested John Strand, communications director for America’s Frontline Doctors, who was also at the Capitol. He was charged with the same crimes as Gold.
They were both released on conditions. But, Gold has a virtual hearing in federal court in the District of Columbia Thursday afternoon.
Gold told the Washington Post that she was inside the Capitol on January 6 as she followed a crowd and assumed it was legal to do. She was captured on video giving a speech to rioters inside the building.
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America’s Frontline Doctors became infamous in July 2019 when they held a press conference on the steps of the Supreme Court, touting the benefits of hydroxychloroquine and criticizing lockdown restrictions. Clips from their press conference was shared by right wing outlet Breitbart and former president Donald Trump.
During the press conference, a speaker who identifies herself as a doctor makes a number of dubious claims, including that “you don’t need masks” to prevent spread of the coronavirus, and that recent studies showing hydroxychloroquine is ineffective for the treatment of Covid-19 are “fake science” sponsored by “fake pharma companies.”
“This virus has a cure, it’s called hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zithromax,” the woman claims. “You don’t need masks, there is a cure.”
