Week of Jan. 23, 2025

From the editor’s desk

On Tuesday, President Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of everyone charged with crimes in the Jan. 6 riot, including those who assaulted police officers.

Seconds before he signed the pardon, Trump referred to the 1,500 people who had been found guilty of Jan. 6 crimes as “hostages” whom he was about to free.

Eight Nevadans are among the pardoned, as reported by the Nevada Independent. 

One of them, Nathan DeGrave, pleaded guilty in 2023 to conspiracy and “assaulting, resisting or impeding officers” and was then released from custody. This week, DeGrave explained to Cristen Drummond from Channel 3 News in Las Vegas, why he has no regrets: “It was the right thing to do, and I never regret doing the right thing.” 

Trump has used his authority to upend accountability to a shocking and dangerous degree. The Proud Boys are psyched. Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo and Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, both former law enforcement officers, are so far mum. (Thanks for the illuminating reporting on that, Nevada Current.)

In the midst of this chaos, one brave Westerner has set a shining example.

From yesterday’s Idaho Statesman: 

One rioter, 71-year-old Boise resident Pamela Hemphill, once nicknamed “the MAGA Granny,” rejected her pardon.

Hemphill pled guilty in 2022 to entering the Capitol during the riot (a misdemeanor) and served 60 days in prison.

She told the Statesman: “Accepting the pardon would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law, to our nation. The J6 criminals are trying to rewrite history by saying that it was not a riot; it wasn’t an insurrection. I don’t want to be a part of their trying to rewrite what happened that day.”

Why was she there on Jan. 6? “I lost my critical thinking,” she told The New York Times on Wednesday. She appears to have regained it. She credits some good advice from a therapist—to think of herself as having been a volunteer that day, not a victim. 

Hemphill and her attorney plan to attempt to formally reject the pardon. The Times looked into whether a pardon could be rejected and concluded, “There is some legal precedent … suggesting that any such request could face an uphill battle.”

Whether Hemphill ends up being able to reject the pardon or not, I applaud her integrity. May it resonate far and wide.

Take care,

—Kris Vagner, managing editor

From the RN&R