A Beverly Hills salon owner seen in video footage urging on other rioters breaching the Capitol Building on Jan. 6 was indicted last week, according to court documents.
Gina Bisignano, 52, the owner of Gina’s Eyelashes and Skincare, could be sentenced to decades behind bars if she is found guilty of all the charges filed against her.
A grand jury handed up the seven-count indictment against Gina Bisignano, 52, on Jan. 29. According to court documents, she is accused of obstructing an official proceeding, and aiding and abetting others doing the same. She was also accused of civil disorder, destruction of property other charges related to unauthorized entry of the Capitol.
Obstructing an official proceeding carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence, according to the U.S. Code. Aiding and betting the same also carries a 20-year sentence. And civil disorder carries a five-year penalty. The other charges carry possible sentences of around one year each.
In court documents, the grand jury attempted to make the case that the actions of Bisignano and other rioters that morning showed they were trying to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s landslide election victory in November.
Filming themselves on their cell phones and broadcasting to social media, many loudly proclaimed the widely disproven conspiracy theory that former President Donald Trump actually won the election as they broke into the Capitol grounds and fought with police officers.
In video footage, Bisignano appears with makeup streaming down her face after she said she was tear gassed. She was also seen speaking through a bullhorn in the middle of a wild scrum outside the Capitol entrance, yelling that the rioters “need gas masks…we need weapons…we need strong, angry patriots to help our boys.” Also visible in the video was at least one other rioter carrying a baseball bat.
According to a criminal complaint, Bisignano incited other rioters as they attacked officers with a baton, a fire extinguisher and thrown objects.
Meanwhile, members of the Senate and House inside the Capitol were ushered out of their chambers as the mob pushed through the front doors and past exhausted police. The vote to certify Biden’s election was held later that night and into the early morning hours the next day.
It’s not clear from court documents or any video footage whether Bisignano ever went inside the Capitol building, though
The grand jury, in its indictment, said Bisignano “attempted to, and did, corruptly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding, and did aid and abet others known and unknown to do so, that is, a proceeding before Congress, by entering and remaining in the United States Capitol without authority and committing an act of civil disorder.”
Bisignano, who initially posted $170,000 bail, was ordered back into custody by a judge. She remains in jail as she awaits her next hearing. No date for a next hearing has been set.
No attorney has been listed as representing Bisignano, and officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia were not immediately available for comment.
Source: Orange County Register
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