A former Capitol rioter who publicly turned on President-elect Donald Trump after serving 60 days in federal prison has said she would “refuse” a pardon from the incoming president, who has previously promised to free nonviolent offenders who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Pamela Hemphill, a grandmother in her seventies who pleaded guilty to charges related to the riot, sounded off on social media about her thoughts on her prospective pardon. “I’m not going to be bullied by MAGA anymore, as those who went as far as calling my Probation Officer trying to get me in trouble backfired on them, thinking I would stop speaking out, just give me more confidence to continue!” Hemphill wrote in a post on X. “I will refuse a pardon from felon Trump!” Trump previously highlighted Hemphill’s case in a very brief post on his Truth Social app in 2023—but by that time Hemphill had already distanced herself from the MAGA movement. “I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, period,” Hemphill told the Daily Beast at the time. “I mean, I was trespassing. I had a choice—I could have left.”
