She once stormed the Capitol for Trump. Now, she’ll be supporting Kamala Harris in November

[Guno צְבִי]

Pamela Hemphill’s Christmas present from her brother in 2021 was flying out to Washington, D.C., from her hometown of Boise, Idaho, to see Donald Trump hold his "Stop the Steal" rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6.

Hemphill, 71, who voted for the former president in 2016 and 2020, told USA TODAY she’d only seen Trump’s rallies on television prior to Jan. 6 and thought they looked peaceful. But that day in D.C., she said, felt different.

Arriving at the rally late, Hemphill said she heard from different people Trump would be going to the Capitol while lawmakers were certifying votes that would finalize President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election − and that a crowd would be going with him to protest the results.

Holding a phone strapped to a selfie stick, Hemphill, surrounded by other Trump supporters and far-right extremist groups including the Proud Boys, videotaped the riot as she walked inside the Capitol and was later escorted out by law enforcement.

That decision led to her being sentenced to two months in jail, 36 months of probation and $500 restitution after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol building.

Since then, her attitude has changed.

Today, she calls Jan. 6 “the worst day in our history."

And she’s planning to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, in the general election.

She once stormed the Capitol for Trump. Now, she’ll be supporting Kamala Harris in November

Pamela Hemphill who once stormed the Capitol for former President Donald Trump will be supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

news.yahoo.com

 

[Guno צְבִי]

But Hemphill said she usually votes for whoever her mostly Republican-supporting family recommends. Her family, drawn to Trump’s rallies and messaging, drew Hemphill in as well.

“I didn't realize that brainwashing was happening with Trump in 2016…this is how they would talk to me. ‘Pam, you know, the Democrats…are trying to take over. They're getting more aggressive.’ I tend to believe them. You know, I wasn't doing my own research.”

Hemphill said that Trump’s aggressive rhetoric on the border appealed to her at the time because he “had us (believing) that immigrants were criminals and out to take over our nation.” Trump called immigrants from Mexico “rapists” in 2015 and would use words such as "killer," "invasion" and "alien" in his rallies as a way to stoke fear among his supporters and present himself as the prime candidate to solve the border issue.

Sunmin Kim, an assistant professor of sociology at Dartmouth College, said he sees Trump supporters "as people who are afraid, people who are wary of losing control in their lives” as the society and economy transform.

“All of these factors contribute to the feelings of powerlessness among his supporters, and they want an answer. Immigrants are an easy scapegoat,” Kim added.