Citing accountability and respect for the system of law, a participant in the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, has rejected US President Donald Trump’s pardon offer.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
“We were wrong that day,” Pamela Hemphill, who entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 60 days in prison for her involvement in the incident, told the BBC. Hemphill, who goes by the handle “Maga granny” on social media, criticized Trump’s decision to commute or pardon rioters’ sentences.
“To accept a pardon would be an insult to our country, the Capitol police officers, and the rule of law,” she stated. “I entered a guilty plea because I was guilty, and agreeing to a pardon would only reinforce their deceptive narrative and gaslighting.”
Hemphill reaffirmed that the events of that day were illegal and charged Trump with trying to “rewrite history.” In an interview with the BBC World Service’s Newsday program, she stated, “We were wrong that day, we broke the law – there should be no pardons.”
Within hours after taking office, Trump decided to pardon around 1,600 people connected to the Capitol incident. “These people have already served years in prison, and they’ve served them viciously,” he said in defense of the decision during a press conference on Tuesday. The prison is filthy. It’s been awful. It is cruel.
Nonetheless, the choice has drawn criticism, even from Trump’s own supporters. “I just can’t agree with the move,” said Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who also cautioned that it might create “legitimate safety issues on Capitol Hill.” These worries were shared by Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, who emphasized that “attacking a police officer is a very serious issue and they should pay a price for that.”
It is not the first time that a presidential pardon has been denied. The Supreme Court has maintained that people have the right to refuse pardons under the US Constitution. Jacob Chansley, popularly referred to as the “QAnon Shaman,” was one among those who was pardoned. “I walked outside and I screamed ‘freedom’ at the top of my lungs and then gave a good Native American war cry,” Chansley, who was released in 2023 after serving 27 months of a 41-month sentence, told the BBC of his reaction to the pardon.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
