Left: Pam Hemphill in a photo accompanying a Facebook post announcing that she was going to go to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 (FBI court filings). Right: Former President Donald Trump speaks after meeting with members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at their headquarters on Jan. 31, 2024, in Washington (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik).
An Idaho woman who was found guilty of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and encouraging other rioters to do the same says she will “refuse a pardon from felon Trump” — writing on social media that she’s been “bullied by MAGA” over the past year after condemning the 2021 attack in interviews with media outlets.
“I’m not going to be bullied by MAGA anymore,” Pam Hemphill, who was sentenced in 2022 to two months in jail when she was 69 years old, wrote on X Sunday. She says Donald Trump supporters have allegedly gone so far as to call her probation officer to try and get her “in trouble” in wake of her media appearances.
The move “backfired on them,” according to Hemphill.
“Thinking I would stop speaking out, just give me more confidence to continue!” she said.
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!
I will refuse a pardon from felon Trump!…— Pam Hemphill (@PamHemphill79) January 12, 2025
In 2021, Hemphill flew to Washington, D.C., from Idaho to support Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, arriving on Jan. 5. She was accused of pushing through police lines three different times as the crowd outside the Capitol grew increasingly violent. Hemphill also encouraged her fellow rioters to push their way inside the building, and she was later seen inside the Rotunda itself.
Prosecutors said that when police offered to help her, Hemphill “needlessly” exaggerated her injuries in an effort to distract officers from more violent protesters. She pleaded guilty in January 2022 to one count of demonstrating, picketing, or parading in a Capitol building — a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail, a fine up to $5,000 and up to five years of probation. Hemphill requested a sentence of probation only, while prosecutors suggested that she serve at least 60 days in jail, three years of probation and 60 hours of community service.
More from Law&Crime: Idaho Woman, 69, Gets Jail Time After ‘Needlessly’ Distracting Police on Jan. 6
At her sentencing, prosecutors said that Hemphill presented herself as a frail woman who had been overwhelmed and injured by the Jan. 6 crowd, and not as an agitator. She went on to state in interviews with CNN, USA Today and other news outlets that she regretted her actions that day — calling the “Make America Great Again” crowd she stormed the Capitol with a “cult” and Trump a “felon” who should be blamed for what happened.
“I mean I’m so tired of narrative that they’re putting out there,” Hemphill told CNN in January 2024. “That’s why I speak out, because I have all the receipts. I was there. I know what happened that day, and I hold Trump totally responsible.”
Pam Hemphill leaving the Capitol on Jan. 6 (Department of Justice).
Speaking to USA Today in August 2024, Hemphill described Jan. 6 as the “worst day in our history” and claimed she was brainwashed by Trump supporters.
“I didn’t realize that brainwashing was happening with Trump in 2016,” she said. “This is how they would talk to me. ‘Pam, you know, the Democrats … are trying to take over. They’re getting more aggressive.’ I tend to believe them. You know, I wasn’t doing my own research.”
Hemphill has said that Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and the border are what drew her in initially.
“It’s like a scar that I have to carry for the rest of my life,” she told USA Today of her participation in the Jan. 6 attack. “It’s gonna be that shame(ful) feeling. It’s not like I knew I was breaking the law, and I broke it anyway. However, I still was a part of that craziness, that cult. So it’s like something I can’t brush off.”
While she maintains that she was misled, the 2021 insurrection was not Hemphill’s first time storming a government building: prosecutors say that in August 2020, she was part of a crowd that stormed the Idaho Statehouse — shattering a glass door in the process — while protesting COVID-19 restrictions. The demonstration was led by anti-government militant Ammon Bundy, who has been involved in multiple standoffs with the federal government.
In addition to 60 days in jail, Hemphill was ordered to spend three years on supervised release. Pursuant to her plea agreement, she was also ordered to pay $500 in restitution toward the estimated $2.7 million in damages to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“I will refuse a pardon from felon Trump!” Hemphill wrote Sunday on X.
“I’m hoping more J6 defendants will come to their senses and realize Trump is a dangerous cult leader!” she said Monday.
Marisa Sarnoff contributed to this report.
