- Dona Bissey faces charges related to her involvement in the Capitol Riot.
- Bissey has asked for clemency because she is not vaccinated and fears contracting COVID-19 in prison.
- Her lawyer said she could face “serious illness or even death” if imprisoned.
A Capitol Riot suspect has asked for leniency because she is unvaccinated and is afraid of putting COVID-19 in jail, court documents show.
Dona Bissey, 53, of Bloomfield, Indiana, faces four counts, including entering and staying in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Hill.
Her lawyer demanded that she receive no jail time and only 18 months probation.
“Put simply, if Ms. Bissey is incarcerated at DC Prison or the BOP, which has seen 259 inmate deaths and over 43,000 infections from COVID-19, she is extremely likely to suffer from serious illness or even to die, “his lawyer AJ Kramer writes in the record.
Kramer noted that his client “hasn’t helped his chances of fighting the virus by staying unvaccinated.”
However, Kramer said Bissey “does not deserve to die for his bad behavior on January 6” and pleaded with the court to take into account his “unique medical vulnerabilities”.
—Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 8, 2021
The record notes that Bissey maintains that she is not vaccinated because her doctor in Indiana advised against it due to her compromised liver.
The court documents cite an article from The Atlantic, which notes that some doctors in the United States may erroneously advise patients not to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
He notes that most doctors say that “almost few people” have legitimate reasons to avoid the COVID-19 vaccination.
In court documents, her attorney also noted that Bissey was “shunned” by residents of her hometown of Bloomfield, Indiana, in a memorandum seen by Insider.
Bissey, who owns a barber shop, has lost a lot of clients since his arrest and is taking antidepressants, Kramer said.
Earlier this week, Bissey wrote a handwritten letter to the judge, describing herself as a “God-fearing, homeland-loving, law-abiding and hardworking patriot”.
She added that she was “deeply saddened” by the events which took place on Capitol Hill on January 6 and that she was “very remorseful”.
—Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 5, 2021
In the court file, his lawyer AJ Kramer said the events of the insurgency had left Bissey with “deep regret, fear, shame and remorse.”
Bissey’s statements of remorse contrast sharply with his attitude on social media in the days following the riot.
“It was a day that I will remember forever. I am so proud to have been a part of it! No shame,” she wrote on Facebook on Jan. 7.
More than 660 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol Riot, according to the Insider tracker.
