Donald Trump delivered on his promise to pardon the January 6 political prisoners.
The battle appeared to be over.
But a January 6 defendant turned down Donald Trump’s pardon for one reason no one expected.
January 6 praying Grandma turns down Trump’s pardon to try to win her case
72-year-old Rebecca Lavrenz had the hammer dropped on her by the Biden Justice Department for entering the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.
She saw that the doors were open to the building and wandered around it for 10 minutes before she left.
Federal prosecutors never accused her of violence or doing any damage.
Lavrenz became known as the “J6 Praying Grandma” after she was arrested.
She and a group of Christians were praying on the Capitol grounds on the day of the rally.
A federal judge sentenced her to one year of probation including six months of home confinement without the internet, and more than $100,000 in fines.
The hefty fines were meant to crush a grandma who committed nonviolent misdemeanors.
President Donald Trump pardoned nearly 1,500 people who were charged with crimes on January 6.
The pardons were a lifesaver to many of the victims of political persecution over January 6 after rigged trials and harsh sentences.
Lavrenz turned down the pardon she received from Trump.
“J6 Praying Grandma” wants to stop bad precedent
She told KOAA News5 that she wants to let the appeals process play out in her case and get it thrown out because her conviction violated the First Amendment.
Winning her case could help stop a bad precedent from being set.
“I had no intention of being where I am today, but when the public of the United States, we the people of America, see a 72-year-old grandmother, great grandmother, with an ankle monitor on, banned from the Internet, can’t get out of her house except on certain hours of the week, then that wakes them up, and they say, ‘If this could happen to her, then what would happen to me?'” Lavrenz asked.
Her attorney David McDivitt said that she could reject Trump’s pardon and continue appealing her conviction.
Excessive punishment for a nonviolent crime
Lavrenz said that she was waved into the Capitol Building by a police officer at the door.
“I was swept up with the crowd. It was like a big rush going into the Capitol,” Lavrenz recalled. “There on the video, Capitol footage, video, there’s a gentleman, a police officer, right beside me, almost like a door greeter at Walmart, just saying hi to me, and I was just talking to him. He never told me to leave the building. And so I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. I really didn’t.”
She drove 25 hours from the Colorado Springs area to attend the rally after her son encouraged her to pray about it.
“He says, ‘Well, I think you need to pray about it.’ It didn’t take me very long. I sat down and spent some time with God and he said, ‘Rebecca, we’re gonna go on an adventure together’ and I said, ‘Okay, God.’ He said, ‘I’ll be sitting right beside you, and we’ll just have a lot of fun and adventure’ and I drove the 25 hours,” Lavrenz said.
Rebecca Lavrenz’s conviction being overturned could help check some of the government’s abuse of power.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
