Scrubs at the Capitol: The Health Professionals of January 6
A neonatal nurse from London, Ontario. A Toronto nursing-home nurse. An addiction doctor from Massachusetts. A ketamine-clinic anesthesiologist from Los Angeles. A Capitol Hill chiropractor. All of them were in Washington on 6 January 2021. Here is what each did that day, and what it cost them afterwards.
- Not one movement, one pipeline: each of them came to Washington from the 2020 anti-mask and anti-lockdown circuit. The nurses' day began with a "Global Frontline Nurses Summit" at 9 a.m. and a press conference with Dr. Vladimir Zelenko at 10:30.
- Who went inside: the three American practitioners on this page (Starer, Harris and Walls-Kaufman) entered the Capitol. One punched a police officer. A jury later found the chiropractor liable for assaulting an officer who died by suicide nine days later.
- The Canadians: we found no evidence that either Ontario nurse entered the building or took part in violence. Their consequences came at home, from a hospital, a nursing college, provincial courts and a libel suit that backfired.
- The pardon line: Trump's January 2025 clemency wiped out the federal cases, but not a state medical board's judgment or a civil jury's verdict.
- The lesson: where accountability survived, it came from licensing bodies, employers and civil courts, not from the criminal record.
1. The morning of January 6: the nurses' summit
Global Frontline Nurses described itself as a network of nurse "whistleblowers" who dissented from the official COVID-19 account. It billed a summit for 9 a.m. on 6 January 2021 in Washington, under the hashtag #HOLDTHELINE. A supporters' petition later said the event had been moved from Florida to Washington. Vice identified the American speakers from their own posts, including Erin Marie Olszewski of Florida (the "Undercover Epicenter Nurse") and Nicole Sirotek of Nevada, who later founded American Frontline Nurses. The two Canadians were Kristen Nagle of London, Ontario, and Sarah Choujounian of Toronto.
The second poster ties the nurses to the hydroxychloroquine network covered on our Zelenko page and our America's Frontline Doctors page. AFLDS founder Simone Gold was booked to speak at a rally on the Capitol grounds the same day. The Supreme Court steps, where AFLDS had held its White Coat Summit in July 2020, were the setting again.
At the summit, Nagle told the crowd that nurses were being threatened for speaking out and attacked policies that separated new mothers from support. "We are sharing truth with you whatever the cost may be," she said. Global Frontline Nurses maintained that "fraud is rampant" in the COVID-19 response, inside and outside hospitals. Choujounian, founder of Nurses Against Lockdowns, had already called vaccine promotion a "crime against humanity".
2. Scorecard: where each one ended up
"None found" means we searched published board actions and news coverage and found nothing. It is not a clean bill of health.
| Person | Profession | On 6 Jan 2021 | Criminal / court outcome | Licence outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacquelyn Starer, MD Ashland, Mass. | Ob-gyn; addiction medicine; past president, Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine | Attended the "Stop the Steal" rally, entered by the East Rotunda doors, struck a Metropolitan Police officer with her closed fist | Pleaded guilty to eight counts including two felonies; 9 months in prison; pardoned Jan 2025 | Right to renew revoked, 16 Jul 2026 |
| Austin Brendlen Harris, MD Granada Hills, Calif. | Cardiothoracic anesthesiologist; ran a ketamine-infusion clinic in Sherman Oaks | Inside the Capitol; recorded comparing police to Nazis; gave first aid to Ashli Babbitt after she was shot | Reported to the FBI by a former friend; arrested Jan 2023; plea deal; probation, Feb 2024 (prosecutors sought 30 days); pardoned | No Jan 6 action found (already on board probation over a 2019 DUI) |
| David Walls-Kaufman, DC Washington, D.C. | Chiropractor, Capitol Hill Chiropractic Center | Entered the Capitol; scuffled with MPD Officer Jeffrey Smith, who died by suicide nine days later | Misdemeanour plea; 60 days (Jun 2023); pardoned; civil jury found him liable for assault, about $500,000 (Jun 2025) | None found |
| Kristen Nagle, RN London, Ont. 🍁 | NICU nurse, London Health Sciences Centre; registered since 2006 | Spoke at the Global Frontline Nurses summit; no evidence she entered the Capitol | Several Reopening Ontario Act convictions; libel suit dismissed with $315,000 costs; denied standing in the Emergencies Act case | Fired with cause; resigned registration Jan 2023 |
| Sarah Choujounian, RPN Toronto 🍁 | Registered practical nurse since 2004; nursing home | Spoke at the summit; a live stream showed her on the Capitol steps amid the crowd | Co-plaintiff in the failed libel suit | CNO discipline hearing 2023–24; outcome to confirm |
| Erin Olszewski, RN Florida | Nurse; "Undercover Epicenter Nurse" author | Summit speaker | None found | None found |
| Nicole Sirotek, RN Nevada | Nurse; later founded American Frontline Nurses | Summit speaker | None found | None found |
| Simone Gold, MD, JD | Emergency physician; AFLDS founder | Speech in the Rotunda | 60 days; pardoned | See AFLDS page |
3. The Americans who went inside
Dr. Jacquelyn Starer: the addiction doctor who threw a punch
Starer was first licensed in Massachusetts in 1983. She is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology and in public health and general preventive medicine, with a subspecialty in addiction medicine. At the time of her arrest in December 2022 she worked at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital. Court records say she travelled to Washington for the "Stop the Steal" rally. Shortly before 3 p.m. she entered through the East Rotunda doors and made her way into the Rotunda, where she struck a police officer.
She pleaded guilty to two felonies, civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, plus misdemeanours. She was sentenced in September 2024 to nine months in prison and 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution and fines. She apologized to the officer in court. After her arrest she signed a voluntary agreement not to practise. Her licence lapsed in March 2025.
Trump's January 2025 pardon ended the federal case. It did not end the board's case. On 16 July 2026 the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine revoked her right to renew, finding that she "struck a Metropolitan Police Officer with her closed fist". It is the clearest proof on this page that a presidential pardon does not restore a state licence.
Dr. Austin Harris: "@ARealLifeDoctor"
Harris, a board-certified cardiothoracic anesthesiologist who ran a ketamine-infusion clinic in Sherman Oaks, used Parler as @ARealLifeDoctor to ask which hotels the "Trump supporters" would be staying at. Surveillance video placed him inside the Capitol, and the FBI complaint said he could be heard comparing officers to Nazis. He wore a "Lions Not Sheep" cap. A former friend saw his Facebook post and called the FBI. In it Harris said he had been "treating trauma patients" at the Capitol.
That part was true in one respect: he knelt to help Ashli Babbitt after she was shot outside the Speaker's Lobby, until an officer pulled him away. He was arrested in January 2023 and accepted a plea deal. In February 2024 he was sentenced to probation; prosecutors had asked for 30 days in jail. He was among those pardoned.
Harris was already under Medical Board of California supervision. A 2021 board decision, after a 2019 DUI conviction for which he served 30 days, required psychotherapy, random drug and alcohol testing and a practice monitor. We found no board action tied to January 6.
David Walls-Kaufman, DC: the chiropractor and Officer Smith
Walls-Kaufman ran the Capitol Hill Chiropractic Center a few blocks from the Capitol. He entered the building with the crowd. Body-camera video showed him in a brief struggle with Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith as police pushed rioters out after Ashli Babbitt was shot. Smith had a concussion. Nine days later, driving to his first shift since the riot, he died by suicide.
Prosecutors said they could not prove an assault beyond reasonable doubt, so Walls-Kaufman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour, parading in a Capitol building. In June 2023 Judge Jia Cobb sentenced him to 60 days, saying she did not believe his account of why he was there. He was pardoned in January 2025.
The civil case went the other way. In June 2025 a federal jury found him liable for assault and battery. It awarded Smith's widow, Erin Smith, $60,000 in compensatory and $380,000 in punitive damages, plus $60,000 to the estate, about $500,000 in all. Judge Ana Reyes had dismissed the wrongful-death claim before deliberations. Separately, the D.C. Police and Firefighters Retirement and Relief Board ruled in 2022 that Smith's Capitol injury was the "sole and direct cause of his death". We found no action against Walls-Kaufman's chiropractic licence.
4. The Canadians: Nagle and Choujounian 🍁
QuackeryWatch's full investigation of the nurses' discipline cases is at Global Frontline Nurses and the CNO Cases. This section is the January 6 thread and what has happened since.
Kristen Nagle: from the NICU to the Supreme Court steps
Nagle had been a registered nurse since 2006 and worked in the neonatal intensive care unit at London Health Sciences Centre's Children's Hospital from 2012, caring for premature babies from about 23 weeks and 500 grams. In September 2020 she wrote to a London council committee against the city's mask bylaw. In one video she called the mask rules "BS" while picking up a takeout order. That clip was CBC London's second most-viewed video of 2020.
On 22 November 2020 she co-organized London's "Freedom Rally" in Victoria Park. Police charged her and two other women under the Reopening Ontario Act. LHSC suspended her without pay. The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario reported her to the College of Nurses of Ontario. RNAO chief Doris Grinspun said any nurse spreading misinformation "simply puts the public in danger".
Six weeks later, while suspended, she spoke in Washington on 6 January. On 19 January 2021 LHSC confirmed she had been "terminated with cause". A change.org petition said she took no part in the Capitol protests and had been in Washington only for the summit. We have found nothing to contradict that.
What followed:
- She co-founded Canadian Frontline Nurses with Choujounian and Kristal Pitter. CBC described it as a group that campaigns against conventional medical wisdom and sells alternative-health products and merchandise. It organized the 1 September 2021 protests outside hospitals across Canada.
- Reopening Ontario Act: convicted for attending an Easter 2021 service at Aylmer's Church of God ($10,000, reduced on appeal to $3,750); for the November 2020 London rally ($20,000); and for a January 2022 London rally ($7,500 plus surcharge, and two years' probation). A Cornwall charge was withdrawn. Her crowdfunding page raised more than $61,000.
- College of Nurses of Ontario: she resigned her registration in January 2023, while under investigation.
- Emergencies Act: in January 2024 the Federal Court denied her and Canadian Frontline Nurses standing to challenge the convoy-era emergency orders. The court found she had acted in bad faith and brought "nothing of value" to the proceedings. The ruling was upheld on appeal.
Sarah Choujounian: Nurses Against Lockdowns
Choujounian, a registered practical nurse since 2004, spent most of her career at a north Toronto nursing home. She founded Nurses Against Lockdowns and called COVID-19 vaccines "experimental" and "unsafe". On 6 January she told the summit crowd she was a nurse from Toronto. The National Post reported that a live stream showed her later on the Capitol steps amid the crowd. We found no evidence that she entered the building.
The CNO opened investigations into both nurses in January 2021. Choujounian's discipline hearing began in March 2023, and the liability phase ended in December 2024. Her side called Dr. Byram Bridle as an expert witness. College counsel argued that the peer-reviewed papers she cited were not, on their own, evidence. Supporters report that the panel has since ruled against her and that she is appealing. We have not yet confirmed the final order from the College's own register; this line will be updated.
The libel suit that cost $315,000
In December 2021 Canadian Frontline Nurses, Choujounian, Nagle and Pitter sued the Canadian Nurses Association, its president and its CEO, and Together News Inc., a Comox, B.C. news site, for $1 million. They objected to a CNA statement, which did not name them, and to a TNI article that called two of them "unhinged, conspiracy touting nurses".
On 23 December 2022 Justice Marie-Andrée Vermette dismissed the action under Ontario's anti-SLAPP law (Courts of Justice Act s. 137.1), finding they had not shown serious enough harm. The CNA defendants then sought $410,335 in costs, and argued the suit bore "the hallmarks of" a SLAPP meant to chill their support for public health measures. On 12 June 2023 the judge awarded $250,000 to the CNA defendants and $65,000 to Together News, $315,000 in all, payable within 30 days (Canadian Frontline Nurses v. Canadian Nurses Association, 2023 ONSC 3529).
The nurses appealed. A Court of Appeal judge ordered them to post security for costs, calling the appeal one with "a low chance of success". Nagle then went on former MP Derek Sloan's channel to raise money for the bill. The nurses sued to silence their critics, and instead the courts ordered them to pay those critics' legal bills.
5. Timeline
| Date | Who | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-09 | Nagle | Writes to a London council committee opposing the mask bylaw. |
| 2020-11-07 | Nagle | At the 2,000-person anti-lockdown march in Aylmer, Ont. |
| 2020-11-22 | Nagle | Co-organizes London's "Freedom Rally"; charged days later; LHSC suspends her without pay. |
| 2021-01-06 | Nagle, Choujounian, Olszewski, Sirotek | Global Frontline Nurses Summit (9 a.m.) and press conference with Zelenko outside the Supreme Court (10:30 a.m.). |
| 2021-01-06 | Starer, Harris, Walls-Kaufman, Gold | The Capitol is breached. Starer strikes an officer; Harris aids Babbitt; Walls-Kaufman struggles with Officer Smith; Gold speaks in the Rotunda. |
| 2021-01-12 | CNO | The College of Nurses of Ontario confirms it is investigating Nagle and Choujounian. |
| 2021-01-15 | Officer Smith | Jeffrey Smith dies by suicide on his way to his first shift since the riot. |
| 2021-01-19 | Nagle | LHSC confirms she has been "terminated with cause". |
| 2021-04-25 | Nagle | Attends the Aylmer Church of God service; later fined. |
| 2021-09-01 | Canadian Frontline Nurses | Protests outside hospitals across Canada. |
| 2021-12-13 | CFN, Nagle, Choujounian, Pitter | File the $1-million libel suit against the CNA and Together News. |
| 2022-06 | Walls-Kaufman | Arrested. |
| 2022-12-20 | Starer | Arrested; later signs a voluntary agreement not to practise. |
| 2022-12-23 | CFN suit | Libel suit dismissed under anti-SLAPP law (2022 ONSC 7280). |
| 2023-01 | Nagle; Harris | Nagle resigns her CNO registration. Harris is arrested (25 Jan). |
| 2023-03 | Choujounian | CNO discipline hearing begins. |
| 2023-06-12 | CFN suit | $315,000 costs awarded against the nurses (2023 ONSC 3529). |
| 2023-06-13 | Walls-Kaufman | Sentenced to 60 days. |
| 2024-01-23 | Nagle | Federal Court denies her standing in the Emergencies Act review (2024 FC 42). |
| 2024-02-02 | Harris | Sentenced to probation. |
| 2024-09-05 | Starer | Sentenced to nine months in prison. |
| 2024-12 | Choujounian | Liability phase of her CNO hearing ends. |
| 2025-01-20 | All US defendants | Trump pardons, commutes or dismisses the cases of nearly 1,600 people charged over January 6. |
| 2025-06 | Walls-Kaufman | Civil jury finds him liable for assaulting Officer Smith; about $500,000 awarded. |
| 2026-07-16 | Starer | Massachusetts board revokes her right to renew her medical licence. |
What the cases add up to
- The pardon erased the federal convictions, not the facts. Massachusetts acted on Starer after the pardon, and a civil jury ruled on Walls-Kaufman after his. Licensing boards judge fitness to practise; they do not need a conviction.
- Canada moved faster, through employers and courts. Nagle was suspended within days of her London rally and fired within two weeks of January 6. Her own libel suit ended with a $315,000 bill.
- Most boards said nothing. We found no January 6 action by California against Harris, by D.C. against Walls-Kaufman, or by any state against the American summit nurses.
- The same circuit, over and over. The anti-mask rally, the hydroxychloroquine summit, Zelenko's press conference and "Stop the Steal" all drew the same people. A licence gave them standing with the crowd.
Where to complain
🍁 Ontario nurses
- College of Nurses of Ontariocno.org: search the public register ("Find a Nurse") before you file. A former member can still be disciplined for conduct while registered.
- Other Canadian complaint routesQuackeryWatch guide
🇺🇸 US practitioners
- Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicinemass.gov/massmedboard
- Medical Board of Californiambc.ca.gov complaints · 1-800-633-2322
- Texas and Florida boards, and the FDASee the AFLDS page
Sources
- Colin Butler, Sofia Rodriguez and Kate Dubinski, CBC News, LHSC neonatal nurse in hot water after organizing London's 'Freedom Rally', 24 Nov 2020; CBC London, "London's 10 most-viewed videos of 2020", 25 Dec 2020.
- Ellwood Shreve and Mark Malone, London Free Press, "Area police forces lower boom on 'Freedom Rally' organizers", 27 Nov 2020.
- Colin Perkel, Canadian Press via HuffPost, "Ontario nurse fired after attending D.C. rally on day of riot", 19 Jan 2021; CTV News Toronto, nurses under investigation, Jan 2021; Global News, Nagle "terminated with cause", 19 Jan 2021.
- Justin Ling, Vice, COVID conspiracy nurses among those who spoke at Trump's violent D.C. rally, Jan 2021; National Post, "Canadian nurses at Capitol riot", 12 Jan 2021.
- Canadian Frontline Nurses v. Canadian Nurses Association, 2023 ONSC 3529 (costs), 12 Jun 2023; 2022 ONSC 7280 (dismissal), 23 Dec 2022; CBC News, appeal and security for costs, 23 Jun 2023; Western Standard, Nagle fundraising for the $315,000 bill, Aug 2023 (party-sympathetic source).
- Canadian Frontline Nurses v. Canada (Attorney General), 2024 FC 42, 23 Jan 2024, affirmed on appeal; Delhi News Record, "Fired London nurse seeks $20K from supporters", 2024.
- CTV London and Global News, Nagle fined $10,000 over Aylmer Church of God service, Sept 2022; Western Standard and LifeSiteNews, appeal reduction and the January 2022 rally sentence (party-sympathetic sources, used only for court outcomes).
- F2SG Substack, reports of Choujounian's CNO hearing, 2023–24 (supporter's account; used only for hearing dates).
- CBS News Boston, Massachusetts doctor gets 9 months in prison, Sept 2024; Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, disciplinary action, 16 Jul 2026; Boston Globe and Boston.com, 21–22 Jul 2026.
- Daily Beast via Yahoo and HuffPost, Harris charged after former friend's tip, Jan 2023; LA Focus News, affidavit and 2021 Medical Board of California probation; Joseph Hanneman, Epoch Times, Harris sentenced to probation, Feb 2024.
- NBC News, Walls-Kaufman sentenced to 60 days, 13 Jun 2023; AP via ClickOnDetroit, Verdict against a pardoned Capitol rioter, 20 Jun 2025; CBS News and Spokesman-Review, $500,000 award, 23–24 Jun 2025.
- Global Frontline Nurses summit and press-conference posters, circulated online January 2021 (in QuackeryWatch files), reproduced for criticism and news reporting.