Jan 6 Capitol Rioter Tells MSNBC She Rejected Trump’s Pardon Because ‘It Was Not a Peaceful Protest, It Was An Insurrection’
A woman convicted over her part in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot told MSNBC on Saturday that she rejected President Donald Trump’s pardon because it would be a “slap in the face to Capitol police officers.”
Pam Hemphill, who served two months behind bars and was sentenced to three years probation over the riot, joined MSNBC’s Katie Phang on Saturday to explain why she rejected a pardon from Trump when about 1,500 others who took part in the 2021 riot accepted theirs.
“It would be a slap in the face to the Capitol Police officers, the rule of law,” Hemphill said about rejecting Trump’s pardon. “You know, to our nation. I pleaded guilty because I was guilty. It would help their narrative that it was a peaceful protest that day. No, it was not a peaceful protest, it was an insurrection. I don’t want any part of anything that Trump is offering.”
Hemphill added that she broke from the “MAGA Trump cult” after recognizing her part in the Capitol riot and seeing disinformation being peddled by other Trump supporters.
“I went there. I wasn’t planning on breaking any laws or harming anybody. That’s not me. So I kept the victim feelings going on. And when my therapist looked at me and said, ‘Ms.. Hemphill, you’re not a victim, you’re a volunteer.’ And I got mad at him,” she said. “I went home that night and I thought about is he’s right. You know, I’ve been sober now for 45 years working a 12 step program. And one of the steps is when you’re wrong, properly admit it.”
Hemphill was not the only rioter to reject a pardon from Trump. Jason Riddle similarly did so, explaining his political extremism was tied to his alcoholism.
“At the time, I was not recovering. I would combine alcohol with my politics and I’d put it online too. I spent a lot of time on social media in the comments section arguing with strangers about nothing,” he said. “And it just became more or less my identity.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
