'MAGA Granny' Capitol Rioter Rejects Trump Pardon: 'We Were Wrong That Day'

An Idaho woman convicted for her role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots has rejected Donald Trump's pardon and will continue to fulfill her probation after serving time in prison.

Pamela Hemphill, 71, pleaded guilty to one count of demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol and was sentenced in May 2022 to about 60 days in prison, which she served at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California

After it was announced that Trump had signed pardons for the more than 1,500 cases connected to the Capitol riots, Hemphill, known to many as "MAGA Granny," denounced the pardons and said she did not want her name to be included in them.

"I broke the law. It's just that simple," she told KTVB. "I had a choice. I'm not a victim; I could have left. 'No,' I thought, 'I'm going to stay there and videotape.'"

During her trial, Hemphill said that she thought the crowd was going to be allowed through the barricades. But when they began fighting against the fence and the police officers, the 71-year-old said she was nearly trampled by the swarm of people.

"Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation," she told the BBC. "We were wrong that day, we broke the law - there should be no pardons."

Hemphill said that she plans on refusing the pardon, and will continue to serve her three years probation that she was also sentenced to.

Despite the backlash, Trump defended the pardons to reporters Tuesday that "these people have already served a long period of time, and I made a decision to give a pardon," as reported by NPR.

Enrique Tarrio, the former chairman of the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes, former Oath Keepers leader, were among those included in the pardons. Both of them had been sentenced to more than a decade in prison.