‘MAGA Granny’ Who Rejected Trump’s Pardon Blasts Him On Jan. 6

Pam Hemphill, the so-called “MAGA Granny” who refused a pardon from President Donald Trump after getting convicted for rioting at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, returned on the attack’s fifth anniversary with a message.

“Once I got away from the MAGA cult and started educating myself about Jan. 6, I knew what I did was wrong,” she said. “I pleaded guilty to my crimes because I did the crime. I received due process, and the DOJ was not weaponized against me.”

Hemphill was one of several people who testified Tuesday at a House hearing marking five years since Trump’s followers violently stormed the Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election win.

The 73-year-old traveled from Idaho to Washington, D.C., at the time to see Trump speak because she “had fallen for the president’s lies, just like many of his supporters.”

“Local people had welcomed me into the circle when I was around them. I heard them saying things like, ‘The Democrats are trying to turn this into a communist country,’ or, ‘The radical left wants to do away with our Constitution,’” she recalled on Tuesday. “The gaslighting caused a lot of fear, and I was scared.”

Hemphill said she made her way to the Capitol that day because she believed Trump would march with his followers.

“As you know, Donald Trump never showed,” she said. “But the rioters did. And the attack began.”

The attempted coup killed five people and injured many more, including about 140 officers. Holding back tears, Hemphill said the police officers “were the heroes” that day, recalling their help when she was getting trampled on by fellow rioters.

“The Capitol Police grabbed my arm, and they were all yelling to tell people to get off of me. Another came over and I was not breathing, they pulled me up and put me up on the steps, and another female officer came over and was helping me,” she testified. “I couldn’t talk to her because I couldn’t breathe. And she was so kind and so loving and here I am thinking, ‘I’m one of the rioters.’”

Hemphill was one of more than a thousand rioters who were convicted for the attack. When Trump issued blanket pardons for the rioters after returning to the White House last January, she rejected it because “accepting that pardon would be lying about what happened on Jan. 6.”

“I am guilty,” she said. “And I own that guilt.”

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) thanked Hemphill for her ability to come forward and admit her wrongs publicly.

“I pray your humility is contagious,” she said. “May it take over this country.”

Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) also commended Hemphill for “showing more bravery than so many of our colleagues who refuse to admit what happened on Jan. 6.”

Hemphill directly addressed the Capitol Police officers in attendance, apologizing “for being part of the mob that put you and so many officers in danger.” She also referenced a plaque that has yet to be hung in the Capitol to honor police officers who defended the building and lawmakers that day.

“I cannot allow the Capitol officers to be lied about. How dare you,” she closed, directing her anger to Trump and MAGA lawmakers. “Until I can see that plaque get up there, I’m not done.”