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Pamela Hemphill, a 71-year-old from Idaho, refused a pardon from President Donald Trump for her role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in 2022 and served 60 days in prison. Trump pardoned about 1,500 people involved in the riot on January 20, but Hemphill asked her Republican senator to help block her pardon.
She told CBS News the pardons support a false narrative of lies and propaganda, admitting, “We were guilty, period.”
Hemphill, once a Trump supporter, now believes the election fraud claims were false and calls the event an insurrection, not a peaceful protest.
She stands out as one of the few January 6 defendants to reject clemency, contrasting with others who sought pardons.