While most of the 1,500 or so people who were jailed for taking part in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot celebrated this week at receiving a "full pardon" from President Trump, one stands out from the crowd: Pamela Hemphill, who has turned down the president's offer for clemency. "We were wrong that day, we broke the law—there should be no pardons," the 71-year-old, who earned the nickname "MAGA Granny" on social media after the insurrection, tells the BBC. "Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law, and, of course, our nation."
The Boise, Idaho, resident, who recorded clips of herself entering the Capitol on Jan. 6, pleaded guilty in 2022 to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing at the Capitol and was sentenced to 60 days behind bars. She was also hit with three years' probation and a $500 fine. "I pleaded guilty because I was guilty," she says, per the BBC. She tells the Idaho Statesman that "the J6 criminals are trying to rewrite history by saying that it was not a riot ... [that] it wasn't an insurrection. I don't want to be a part of their trying to rewrite what happened that day." She adds, per the BBC: "Accepting a pardon ... would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative."
Hemphill says she found out about Trump's mass pardon on Tuesday from her lawyer, but that she plans to file a letter of rejection. The Idaho Press took a harder look at Hemphill in September, reporting that she has since registered as a Democrat and had claimed she was going to vote for Kamala Harris in the election. Some are wary, based on her past affiliations with far-right factions in Idaho. "If she wanted to engage in some behind-the-scenes work first ... then I think her transformation could be acknowledged," says Terry Wilson, a Black Lives Matter organizer in Boise. "But I think a lot of what she does is for attention. She talks a good game. But she talked a good game to her militia buddies, too." More here. (More Jan. 6 stories.)
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