麻豆传媒

Simone Gold, MD, JD, founder of the anti-COVID vaccine organization America's Frontline Doctors (AFLD), was released from a Miami federal prison Friday, 2 weeks before the end of her 60-day sentence for misdemeanor trespassing in the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

As she walked out of prison, a video posted on showed her smiling and making a heart with her hands. "I'm back," she said defiantly. Another video showed her doing push-ups on the sidewalk outside the prison doors.

A spokesperson for confirmed in an email to 麻豆传媒 that Gold had been released, although the bureau website indicated her release was not scheduled until Sunday, Sept. 11. The spokesperson did not explain why Gold was released early, saying that conditions of confinement, transfers, or release plans are not discussed "for privacy, safety, and security reasons."

During the Jan. 6 riot, Gold was videotaped in National Statuary Hall decrying government-mandated lockdowns as she advocated people to avoid the COVID-19 vaccine.

In sentencing her in June, Washington D.C. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper emphasized that her statements about COVID vaccines and unproven medications were not the reason for imposing her incarceration -- nor was she being punished for exercising her right to free speech -- but her trespassing into a federal building was.

She pleaded guilty to one count, entering and remaining in a restricted building, which was one of five counts charged against her in connection with the Jan. 6 event, including disorderly conduct.

During her 6 weeks in prison since late July, Gold, or her representatives, posted online and on Twitter that she had been placed in solitary confinement for 8 days for refusing the COVID vaccine, which she has long maintained is an ineffective "fraud." It was unclear whether she had access to a mobile device or a computer herself, although prison policy forbids cell phones.

Since the early days of the pandemic, Gold has suggested in numerous statements or tweets advocating hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin as treatments for COVID-19, and after the release of the vaccine, has suggested the shot may be harmful and an "experimental biological agent whose harms are well documented," despite scientific evidence to the contrary showing it has avoided hundreds of thousands of deaths and hospitalizations.

Gold, who according to her America's Frontline Doctors , lost her job as an emergency room physician at a California hospital early during the pandemic for prescribing an unnamed medication to a Kaiser patient in the Los Angeles area, moved to Naples, Florida, earlier this year. She set up an online telehealth clinic called . The approved her application for a medical license.

In its FAQ, the AFLD website answered a question about whether ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine was available with this response: "Clinicians practice medicine based on your unique needs, including writing any prescription that's in your best interest. And we will help you find 'freedom pharmacies' that honor these prescriptions, but we'll never receive incentives for any referrals."

During her incarceration, the Medical Board of California automatically put her California license on inactive status. That license expires on Nov. 30, and it's unclear whether she intends to renew it since she now lives in Florida. It's also unclear whether the California licensing agency will reactivate it in light of legislation authorizing disciplinary actions against physicians who spread false or misleading information which now awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) signature.

Upon her release, Gold will undergo 1 year of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay a $9,500 fine and $500 restitution to the U.S. Capitol architect to compensate for damage done to the building during the insurrection.

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