While she was convicted of storming the US Capitol January 6, 2021 alongside thousands of others, Pamela Hemphill now stands out from the crowd saying she won’t accept pardon It was given to him this week by President Donald Trump.
Hemphill, a 71-year-old man from Boise, Idaho, who was once known as “Maga Granny” after videos of her at the Capitol surfaced online, explained reasoning to reject the Clemency granted by Trump – Offered to more than 1,500 people accused of crimes from this day – at the Idaho Statesman.
“Accepting the pardon would be an insult to the Capitol Police, to the rule of law, to our nation,” Hemphill told the outlet. “The criminals J6 (January 6) are trying to rewrite history by saying it was not a riot; It was not an insurrection. I don’t want to be part of them Try to rewrite What happened that day.
“I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon would also serve to contribute to their gaslighting and their false narrative,” she told the BBC in a separate interview .
“We were wrong that daywe broke the law – there should be no pardons. »
Hemphill was sentenced to 60 days in jail after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge in the attack. She also received three years of probation and ordered to pay a fine of US$500.
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 January 6, 2021, Riot at the U.S. Capitol in which she participated.
David Staats/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
She told the Statesman she plans to file a rejection letter 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 thinkingshe told the New York Times, reflecting on her involvement in the riot and the broader movement.
“Now I know it was a cult, and I was in a cult. “
At the time of his sentencing in 2022, Hemphill told the judge She regrets everything she did and said That day at the Capitol. She said he intended to film the protest but was caught up in the moment.
“It felt like I was at a football game cheering on the team from the stands,” Hemphill said. “I should never have left the pits in the first place.”
File – In this January 6, 2021, file photo, supporters of President Donald Trump mount the west wall of 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 as judges began tossing out dozens of pending cases Tuesday after Trump’s granting of clemency to anyone charged in the insurrection.
Trump’s order upended the largest prosecutions in Justice Department history, releasing jailers who were caught on camera viciously attacking police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of orchestrated violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 election loss in 2020.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons Tuesday morning had freed from more than 200 people in his custody For the Jan. 6 crimes, officials told The Associated Press.
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