Convicted Jan 6 rioter tells Trump to stop misusing her story: ‘I pleaded guilty because I was guilty!’
Prosecutors said the grandmother exaggerated an injury to distract officers while encouraging other rioters to enter the Capitol
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Pam Hemphill, a 69-year-old woman convicted for participating in the Capitol riot, has told Donald Trump to stop using her story for his political purposes.
Mr Trump commented "HORRIBLE" on his Truth Social account in response to a post claiming the grandmother would have to spend more time in jail than Hunter Biden, who accepted a plea deal relating to a years-long investigation into his taxes.
Hemphill responded to Mr Trump's comments on Twitter, calling for him to stop using her story to boost his agenda.
"Please @realDonaldTrump don’t be using me for anything, I’m not a victim of Jan6, I pleaded guilty because I was guilty! #StopTheSpin," she wrote on the platform.
Hemphill pushed past police lines three times during the Capitol riot, and encouraged others to push into the Capitol. She was later spotted inside the Capitol rotunda.
She ultimately pleaded guilty last year to one count of demonstrating, picketing, or parading in a Capitol building. Hemphill was ultimately sentenced to two months behind bars.
Prosecutors also claimed she exaggerated an injury to tie up and "distract" officers from dealing with other, more violent protesters.
During her sentencing hearing, prosecutors argued that she presented herself as a frail woman that had been injured by the crowd, rather than as an active participant in the riot.
Katherine Nielsen, a prosecutor, played a video during her sentencing hearing which shows Hemphill speaking with police who rushed to assist her.
“I had to get out of that crowd,” Hemphill says in the video. “I had surgery.”
“I understand, I don’t want you being hurt,” the officer replies.
“I’m a journalist, they took my breath out,” she replied.
The officer apologises for her condition and tells her to take refuge near a gate.
However, she instead went to the doors and told other rioters to "come on in" and that "it's your house, whose house does it belong to?"
“You just come in, come on in, come on, have fun, you just come in, it’s all you do,” she also said. “This is your house. Your house!”
She later claimed again that she was hurt, telling officers that she had "40 stitches" related to a cancer surgery she had undergone.
When she appeared in federal court, she told a judge that she "fully regret[s] everything I said and did at the Capitol."