A Capitol riot suspect is being 'shunned' by people in her small Indiana town and 'chastised on the street,' lawyer says

• Dona Bissey, from Bloomfield, Indiana, was charged with storming the Capitol on January 6.
• Bissey said she was "proud" of being a part of the insurrection, a criminal complaint said.
• Her lawyer asked for a lenient sentencing, saying her town had shunned her.

A Capitol riot suspect has been "shunned" and "chastised" by her community since her arrest in February, her lawyer wrote in a sentencing memorandum seen by Insider.

On Tuesday, Dona Bissey, 53, from Bloomfield, Indiana, wrote a letter to the court pleading for leniency and asking for a sentence of 18 months of probation.

Bissey faces four charges, including entering and remaining in a restricted building, violent entry, and disorderly conduct in the Capitol.

In the sentencing memorandum, A. J. Kramer, a federal public defender, said the events of the insurrection had left Bissey with "deep regret, fear, shame, and remorse."

Bissey, who owns a hair salon, has lost a lot of customers since her arrest and is taking antidepressants, Kramer said.

"Ms. Bissey has been chastised on the street and her business shunned. She had to move her salon following huge losses from a drop in clientele and because the pandemic made rental space unaffordable," he wrote.

"She lives in fear, knowing that every trip to the grocery store could result in someone angrily hurling insults or threats at her. Members of her family have been rebuked. Hate mail is regularly sent to her home address," Kramer added.

The lawyer also said that Bissey should not be incarcerated in a jail in Washington, DC, because of multiple health issues, adding that she feared she would contract COVID-19. Bissey has not been vaccinated, he said.

Bissey also sent a handwritten letter to the court pleading for a more lenient sentence.

In the letter, seen by Insider, Bissey described herself as a "God-fearing, country-loving, law-abiding, hard-working Patriot" who'd attended several of President Donald Trump's events "without incident."

"I am deeply saddened at the events that transpired on that day and very remorseful that I will forever be associated," she wrote.

Bissey's letter struck a different tone from what she was accused of saying on social media in the days after the insurrection.

In posts and comments, Bissey and a friend, Anna Morgan-Lloyd, referred to January 6 as "the best fucking day ever," a federal complaint said.

The day after the insurrection, the complaint said, Bissey wrote on Facebook: "We are Home ... It was a day I'll remember forever. I'm proud that I was a part of it!"

Morgan-Lloyd wrote that they were among "the first 50 people" in the building, the complaint said.

More than 660 people have been charged in the insurrection so far, according to Insider's tracker.