Pam Hemphill, a South Carolina resident who served a federal prison sentence for her role in the riot, said in a video posted to X: "I will not accept a pardon because that would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law and to the nation. Hemphill told Newsweek she contacted her attorney about refusing the pardon. "Taking a pardon would be taking a part of what January 6 has been trying to do [which] is rewrite history," Hemphill said. "[To say] that [the Capitol riot] was a peaceful protest and the DOJ was weaponized against them. And I'm not going to play a part of that. It's not true."

While President Donald Trump pardoned roughly 1,500 participants in the Jan. 6 insurrection on his first day in office, one of them is saying thanks but no thanks. Pamela Hemphill, a 71-year-old nicknamed the “MAGA Granny,” has disavowed her prior support of Trump, telling Newsweek that she believes the president “has committed crimes and needs to be held accountable.” Hemphill advocated for Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election and posted a video to X on Tuesday, Jan. 21, in which she said she’d reject a Trump pardon. “I will not accept a pardon because that would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law and to the nation. I pleaded guilty because I was guilty,” Hemphill said.

Hemphill, who pleaded guilty to one count of demonstrating and was sentenced to 60 days in prison and 36 months of probation, told the BBC: "We were wrong that day, we broke the law — there should be no pardons." "Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation," Hemphill told the BBC. "I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon also would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative."