Former President
Donald Trump has criticized President
Joe Biden and the
Justice Department for “unfairly” targeting a 71-year-old woman dubbed the “J6 Praying Grandma” who entered the U.S. Capitol for around 10 minutes on Jan. 6, 2021.
President Trump took to
Social Media on Friday to denounce the conviction. President Trump said that Ms. Lavrez, a 71-year-old grandmother and small business owner from
Colorado, has now become “one of Joe Biden’s J6 HOSTAGES!!!” President Trump has made the alleged mistreatment of Jan. 6 defendants a cornerstone of his reelection campaign, vowing to use executive power to issue pardons and free Jan. 6 “hostages” soon after taking office, if elected. “Crooked Joe Biden spends more time prosecuting Patriots like Rebecca, AND ME, than Violent Criminals, Thugs, Murderers, and ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS who are destroying our Country. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE UP AGAINST,” President Trump added in his post. President Biden has been sharply critical of President Trump’s statements about the Jan. 6 defendants, while Attorney General Merrick Garland has promised to press ahead with more Jan. 6 prosecutions—and to cast the Justice Department’s dragnet even more widely to include people who weren’t even present at the Capitol that day. After nearly 26 hours of deliberation, a jury found her guilty of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. “I went there to pray,” Ms. Lavrenz told Mr. Bannon. She explained that she was in
Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 “because I love God, my country, and my family, and I knew that something wasn’t right in that 2020
election.” Ms. Lavrenz was captured on video surveillance entering the Capitol building through the East Rotunda doors, walking around the building, and speaking briefly with a
police officer before exiting the building, according to charging documents. The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged in the complaint against her that Ms. Lavrenz volunteered photos of herself at the Capitol on the day of the breach to
FBI agents. The complaint says the Falcon, Colorado, resident “admitted traveling to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021 to attend the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally on the mall and ‘following the crowd to the U.S. Capitol building.’” In its statement of facts against Ms. Lavrenz, the DOJ said the grandmother of seven entered the building despite seeing physical barriers “indicating the U.S. Capitol building grounds were a restricted area.” The filing also states that she “observed people getting into physical confrontations with police” and that she “saw a woman get injured in the exchange.” Video evidence confirmed Ms. Lavrenz’s statement that she was inside the building for only 10 minutes, per the court filings. “My own country is treating me like a criminal just because I believe that my—they stole my rightful president, and just standing up for my country makes me a criminal,” she said in the video. “It’s not right. It feels so weird to be here.” A retired register nurse, Ms. Lavrenz also owns and operates a bed and breakfast near the Rocky Mountains in Falcon, Colorado.