An Idaho woman who participated on the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol has refused a pardon from President Trump and opposed those of other Jan. 6 convicts.
“We were wrong that day,” Pamela Hemphill told the BBC.
Known as the “MAGA Granny,” Hemphill was sentenced to 60 days in prison after pleading guilty to participating in the siege. She was one of more than 1,500 people found responsible for storming the Capitol after being falsely told by Trump that his 2020 reelection bit failed due to electoral malfeasance.
Trump almost immediately pardoned everyone involved in that attack after being sworn into office Monday for the second time in eight years. Hemphill told the BBC she refused the pardon because it insults the work of more than 100 police officers who were injured in the riot and undermines the rule of law.
She said she wanted no part of the president’s attempt to “rewrite history” and that “there should be no pardons” for the convicted rioters Trump has referred to as “hostages.”
“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.
Hemphill didn’t support Trump in the 2024 election.
Law enforcement agents wounded in Jan. 6, including former D.C. Metro Officer Michael Fanone, told CNN the pardoning of MAGA supporters who stormed the Capitol sends a chilling message to militants and hate groups who support the president.
“Donald Trump has told the American people, ‘If you commit crimes on my behalf I’ve got your back,’” Fanone said Wednesday.