While she was found guilty of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 alongside thousands of others, Pamela Hemphill is now standing out from the crowd by saying she won’t accept the pardon that was given to her by President Donald Trump this week.
Hemphill, a 71-year-old from Boise, Idaho, who was once known as “MAGA Granny” after videos of her at the Capitol circulated online, explained her reasoning for rejecting the clemency granted by Trump — offered to more than 1,500 people charged with crimes from that day — to the Idaho Statesman.
“Accepting the pardon would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law, to our nation,” Hemphill told the outlet. “The J6 (Jan. 6) criminals are trying to rewrite history by saying that it was not a riot; it wasn’t an insurrection. I don’t want to be a part of their trying to rewrite what happened that day.”
“I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon also would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative,” she told the BBC in a separate interview.
“We were wrong that day, we broke the law — there should be no pardons.”
Hemphill was sentenced to 60 days in prison after pleading guilty to a misdemeanour charge in the attack. She was also handed three years of probation and ordered to pay a US$500 fine.
Pam Hemphill is seen on the steps of the Idaho Capitol in 2020. A former Trump supporter, she has since changed her stance on the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol that she participated in.
David Staats / Idaho Statesman / Tribune News Service via Getty Images
She told the Statesman she plans to file a letter of rejection for Trump’s pardon.
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She also said she no longer supports Trump or believes his lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
“I lost my critical thinking,” she told the New York Times, reflecting on her involvement in the riot and the larger movement.
“Now I know it was a cult, and I was in a cult.”
At the time of her 2022 sentencing, Hemphill told the judge she regrets everything she did and said that day at the Capitol. She said had intended to film the protest, but got caught up in the moment.
“It was as if I was at a football game cheering the team on from the stands,” Hemphill said. “I never should have left the stands in the first place.”
FILE – In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Jose Luis Magana / The Associated Press
Rioters locked up for their roles on Jan. 6 were released while judges began dismissing dozens of pending cases Tuesday after Trump’s sweeping grant of clemency to anyone charged in the insurrection.
Trump’s order upended the largest prosecution in Justice Department history, freeing from prison people who were caught on camera viciously attacking police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 election loss.
The federal Bureau of Prisons by Tuesday morning had released all of the more than 200 people in its custody for Jan. 6 crimes, officials told The Associated Press.
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