On the five-year anniversary of the infamous January 6, 2021, riot at Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., a congressional panel of House Democrats convened. They called out Republicans and rioters for trying to rewrite history. Attendees of the event included the former “MAGA Granny” Pamela Hemphill, who shared her much-changed opinion of what she saw at the riot in 2021. Hemphill is a retired substance abuse counsellor from Idaho.
Hemphill said to those who were present that day that “I saw what you did. I saw the officers getting pepper sprayed.” In 2021, Hemphill was a staunch supporter of Trump and was one of the rioters who invaded the U.S. Capitol. In the aftermath of the shocking event, Hemphill rejected the offer of a pardon for her part in the protest. During the 2025 commemoration of the riot, Hemphill apologized to Capitol police and called out those who spread “lies” about the January 6 riot. Hemphill said she hoped MAGA Republicans wouldn’t “gaslight” her, and asked that they “don’t be telling me it wasn’t violent.“
A Grim Anniversary
After the January 6 riot, House Democrats spent 18 months investigating the event. They questioned President Donald Trump’s statements made at an event prior to the riot. They also discussed statements Trump made regarding the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. Trump denied having any part in the January 6 riot; however, since beginning his second term as President, he has pardoned or commuted the sentences of over 1500 people who were a part of the riot in and around the U.S. Capitol Building.
House Democrats at the event called the anniversary “grim” and called the inciting event a “bloody riot.” The riot itself garnered widespread concern and shock as protesters broke into the locked U.S. Capitol Building, rifled through the offices of various elected officials, and caused over $2.7 million of damage. One police officer died of a stroke after responding to the Capitol Building and encountering rioters. One attendee was shot by police and later died. Despite these events, the riot remained largely nonviolent.
The invasion of one major gathering place for the U.S. Government did not go unnoticed, though. As this fifth-anniversary gathering and Hemphill’s testimony prove, the effects of the January 6 riot continue to haunt officials and the American People. As Trump enters the second year of his second, non-consecutive presidential term, you have to wonder if the riot was a turning point – and if so, of what?
