An elderly woman dubbed “MAGA granny,” who pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge connected to the January 6 riot at the Capitol and served 60 days in prison, says she is rejecting the pardon granted by President Trump because she is indeed guilty.

“I broke the law. I’m not a victim,” Pamela Hemphill, 71, told KTVB in Idaho. “The message is, if I took a pardon, that what I did that day was OK. … I was wrong that day.” 

“Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation,” she 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.”

She pleaded guilty to a charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, while federal prosecutors dropped two charges of disorderly and disruptive conduct and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Ms. Hemphill, a cancer survivor who is a retired substance abuse counselor, was nicknamed the “MAGA granny” in social media posts and she has said that she was a believer that Joe Biden stole the 2020 presidential election.

Shortly after taking office, Mr. Trump announced the mass pardons of anyone convicted on January 6 charges, saying they suffered “inhumane” and “disgusting” conditions in prison.

“These people have already served years in prison, and they’ve served them viciously. It’s been a terrible, terrible thing,” the president said. “It’s a disgusting prison. It’s been horrible. It’s inhumane. It’s been a terrible, terrible thing.”

Ms. Hemphill said her time in prison was a nightmare. “I’m claustrophobic. Thank God the doors aren’t locked, but you can’t go out,” she said. “You just learn to do it five minutes at a time, ten minutes at a time. You focus on watching TV all day. That’s all I did.”

A few weeks after the January 6 riots, Ms. Hemphill said she changed her mind and decided Mr. Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement was based entirely on lies.

“They’re lying about everything. [They] said the doors were opened by the officers, and they were not,” she told KTVB. “Everything starts with Trump saying the election was stolen. That’s where it all started. It wasn’t stolen.”

“I’m so sorry I was ever there that day, that I was a part of that garbage,” Ms. Hemphill told the Idaho station. “I’ve gotta’ live the rest of my life knowing I was there, a part of it, you know, cheering it on. That’s why I gotta’ speak out, be vulnerable. Death threats, whatever, I have to feel that I’ve done the best that I can to let others know that whatever happened that day was wrong.”

On her pardon, she said, “I’m not going to take it. I gotta do some research on who to contact to refuse it.”

That might not be easy. Famed lawyer Alan Dershowitz said on his Tuesday podcast that people who are pardoned by the president “have no choice, the law doesn’t allow you to reject a pardon. You can say you’re rejecting it, but it has the same impact. If you’re pardoned, you can’t be prosecuted. No matter what you think or say, you can’t waive that.”

Some Republican lawmakers aren’t happy with Mr. Trump’s pardons. Senator Tillis of North Carolina said he “just can’t agree” with them, adding that it “raises legitimate safety issues on Capitol Hill.” Senator Lankford of Oklahoma, told CNN: “I think if you attack a police officer, that’s a very serious issue and they should pay a price for that.”