Boise’s ‘MAGA Granny’ stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. She just returned to do this
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Pamela Hemphill, a Jan. 6 participant, returned to the Capitol to apologize.
- Hemphill testified at a congressional hearing, rejected a pardon and served time.
- Congress marked the fifth anniversary while the White House promoted a contrary narrative.
A Boise woman who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol returned to the building on Tuesday to apologize to Capitol police officers.
Pamela Hemphill, once nicknamed “the MAGA Granny,” testified at a hearing called by congressional Democrats to mark the riot’s fifth anniversary, multiple news outlets reported.
Hemphill testified alongside Winston Pingeon, a Capitol Police officer who tried to defend the building that day. PBS News reported that she turned to Pingeon and said, “I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart for being part of the mob that put you and so many officers in danger.”
Hemphill, 72, a retired addiction counselor and a grandmother, served 60 days in federal prison after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of entering the Capitol during the attack, The New York Times reported.
The attack by supporters of President Donald Trump came on the day Congress and Vice President Mike Pence were certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump. The Republican incumbent insisted that he had won re-election, though courts in states across the country turned aside his and supporters’ allegations of election fraud as meritless.
In January 2025, on the first day of his second term, Trump granted clemency to more than 1,500 people charged in the attack. But Hemphill rejected her pardon, the Idaho Statesman reported.
“Accepting the pardon would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law, to our nation,” Hemphill told the Statesman then.
Hemphill was greeted Tuesday in the Capitol by Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who was speaker of the House when the attack occurred. She and other members of both houses and both parties were evacuated for their safety for several hours as rioters forced their way into the Capitol that day.
The White House marked Tuesday’s anniversary in a different way, The Hill reported: It launched a website praising Trump for his handling of the attack, saying Democrats “masterfully reversed reality” and Trump “corrected a historic wrong” in pardoning rioters charged with crimes.
“In truth, it was the Democrats who staged the real insurrection by certifying a fraud-ridden election, ignoring widespread irregularities, and weaponizing federal agencies to hunt down dissenters, all while Pelosi’s own security lapses invited the chaos they later exploited to seize and consolidate power,” the White House site says.
