Bisignano Taken Back Into Custody After Brief Release

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Gina Bisignano, the Beverly Hills salon owner accused of participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, was ordered back into federal custody and ordered transported to Washington, D.C. after a judge issued an emergency stay, the Beverly Hills Courier reported Thursday.

Bisignano was arrested Tuesday on numerous charges, including civil disorder, destruction of government property, and violent entry or disorderly conduct and ordered released on a $170,000 bond that afternoon. She was also subject to home detention. However, on Tuesday evening, prosecutors for the United States Attorney's Office objected to the ruling, and obtained a stay and detention order from a Washington, D.C. judge, a U.S. Attorney's Office spokesperson told The Courier.

Several videos available on Twitter show Bisignano taking an active role in the riots, encouraging and aiding participants in forcibly entering the Capitol building. An FBI affidavit released Tuesday cites videos in which Bisignano announces her name and business into a bullhorn, and then encourages forced entry. "Everybody, we need gas masks, we need weapons. We need strong, angry patriots to help our boys, they don't want to leave. We need protection," she cried into a bullhorn as nearby rioters assault police officers.

Another video shows Bisignano entering the Capitol through a small square opening, and addresses other rioters, stating, "We need Americans. Come on guys. We need patriots! You guys, it's the way in. We need some people, we need some people." Another video appears to show her throwing a water bottle in the direction of law enforcement.

NEW: video shows Beverly Hills salon owner Gina Bisignano was at the head of the mob that broke into the West side of the Capitol, inciting people to violence over a megaphone as police were attacked and urging others to follow her into the building. pic.twitter.com/3x6PUHrG8P
— T (@waterspider__) January 13, 2021

Bisignano confirmed to The Courier in an interview last week that she did attend the rally, but argued that she got swept up in the moment, and did not commit any any vandalism or violence.

The U.S. Attorney's Office did not agree. Bisignano received a much higher bond - $170,000 as opposed to $15,000 for Dr. Simone Gold and $20,000 for communications director and model John Strand - and more charges than the other two Beverly Hillers charged Monday. Gold and Strand, whom the FBI says were taped and photographed entering the Capitol building, where Gold made a brief speech, were both charged with 'restricted building or grounds; violent entry and disorderly conduct'; Bisignano was charged with civil disorder, destruction of government property; aiding and abetting; obstruction of an official proceeding; restricted building or grounds; violent entry or disorderly conduct, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“The defendant participated in a violent riot that was designed to prevent the United States Congress from certifying the valid, true results of the 2020 presidential election. So, to say that her alleged crimes were dangerous, not just to the community, but to American democracy and the rule of law itself, is an understatement,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Rollins said during the Tuesday hearing.

Rollins also argued that Bisignano's belief in various conspiracy theories like the theft of the 2020 election means that she is "extraordinarily unlikely to accept the legitimacy of this Court's orders...or obey any terms of pretrial release."

Craig Harbaugh, Bisignano's attorney, argued that former President Donald Trump set up the riot, not anti-government forces, a claim that United States Magistrate Judge John E. McDermott rejected.

Gold, the head of an anti-vaccination organization called America's Frontline Doctors, was released Tuesday afternoon, and has a virtual hearing in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 21. Strand, who was released at an unknown date, will appear for a pretrial hearing in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, and Bisignano's next appearance is yet unknown.

Related coverage:

3 Beverly Hillers Accused Of Rioting Appear Before LA Judge | Beverly Hills, CA Patch

3 Beverly Hillers Arrested In Connection With Capitol Hill Riot | Beverly Hills, CA Patch