‘Oooooh what a threat’: Feds want Beverly Hills beautician turned Jan. 6 rioter thrown in jail for ‘outright disdain for the court’s authority’ with social media use

Background: FILE — Violent rioters loyal to President Donald Trump storm the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File). Insets: Gina Bisignano (via FBI court filing).

The Beverly Hills beautician who yelled “You are not going to take away our Trumpy Bear” through a bullhorn as she allegedly led Donald Trump supporters in the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has been violating the terms of her pretrial release for years, according to federal prosecutors who say she should be kept behind bars until her case goes to court.

Gina Bisignano, who runs an eyelash extension and skin care salon in the world-famous California enclave, shouted pro-Trump missives — including “This is 1776!” and “We will never let our country go to the globalists!” — before helping multiple rioters smash a glass window to the Capitol and then crawling through it to enter the building.

She pleaded guilty in August 2021 to multiple crimes, including obstruction of an official proceeding, and civil disorder, which carries a potential five-year prison sentence. She also pleaded guilty to a handful of misdemeanors and agreed to cooperate with the federal government’s investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, which sent lawmakers and staff fleeing the building or sheltering in place for hours shortly after beginning proceedings to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win.

She later successfully moved to withdraw her guilty plea to the obstruction charge and currently has a trial date set for April 8. She will also be tried for destruction of government property. She has not been detained ahead of trial, but as prosecutors note, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols set conditions on her pretrial release, including that she stay off social media — except for using Instagram “for the limited purpose of booking clients,” Nichols said — and not to communicate with anyone who was at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Now, according to a weekend filing first spotted by Jan. 6 reporter Emptywheel on X, prosecutors want Nichols to hold Bisignano to account after what they describe as years of violations of the terms of her release.

The violation, prosecutors say, stems from her repeated use of social media.

“Bisignano’s extensive social media activity, spanning seemingly the entirety of her time on release — and occurring before and after admonitions by this Court — violates multiple conditions of release, including that she ‘avoid all contact, directly or indirectly, with any person who is or may be a victim or witness in the investigation or prosecution,’ that she have ‘[n]o access to social media,’ and that she have ‘[n]o communications with anyone who was at the event on January 6, 2021.””

The filing reminds Nichols, a Trump appointee, that he “has repeatedly warned her about continued violations” since at least August 2021.

“The one thing you absolutely should not be doing is deciding on your own . . . that there are certain parts of my order that you can disregard,” Nichols told Bisignano at the time.

Prosecutors say that this “is precisely what Bisignano has done.”

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