Diogenes
Nemo me impune lacessit
Jan. 6 Rioters Now Have Very Different Views
Pam Hemphill was part of the Jan. 6 mob of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Hemphill, now 71 years old, views her actions as a huge mistake and sees the Trump orbit as a cult.
In early 2021, Hemphill said, she was “all in with MAGA.” Hemphill, who had just undergone breast-cancer surgery, eagerly accepted when a relative offered her a plane ticket to the Jan. 6 Trump rally in Washington.
A prosecutor said she urged others to enter the building, and noted she had boasted about attending an August 2020 demonstration at the Idaho Statehouse where protesters broke a glass door while pushing into a special legislative session on pandemic-related election changes. A judge sentenced her to 60 days in prison for her Jan. 6 actions.
After her release from prison, Hemphill’s perspective gradually shifted. She recoiled after seeing people in her orbit supporting Jan. 6 defendants who had harmed police officers. And she participated in social-media discussions where researchers exposed her to court records and overwhelming evidence that convinced her Biden won fairly. She broke with Trump and the Jan. 6 community last year.
“Yes, I was in a cult. Yes, Trump is a cult leader,” Hemphill said, calling Jan. 6 the worst day of her life. “I wasn’t listening to my own critical thinking. I got caught up in all the lies.”
Bradley Rukstales, who is 56 now, suffered tremendous professional loss as a result of his actions and has mostly turned away from politics.
Rukstales called going into the Capitol “the single worst decision of my life.” He was forced to resign his CEO position, sell the company to his business partner and serve 30 days in federal prison.
Today, Rukstales still owns the building where his former company operates. He uses part of it for his own office and to house tools for his woodworking hobby.
Many of his ex-employees refuse to speak with him.
“That’s a little awkward,” he said in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal. “And there’s a little bit of humiliation that creeps in sometimes, but I’ve learned to put that aside and do what needs to be done.”
Government audits, investigations and dozens of lawsuits since 2020 have yielded no evidence of widespread election fraud. Evidence has emerged that Trump aides knew the results were valid as they tried to undermine them.
In the melee, 140 police officers were assaulted, while at least nine deaths have been linked to the attack and aftermath.
Of more than 1,500 people charged, around 10% were accused of wielding deadly or dangerous weapons, or seriously injuring officers, according to the Justice Department.
More than 940 Capitol rioters have pleaded guilty, and nearly 200 more were convicted in trials.
MSN
www.msn.com
