Colorado Springs-area resident Rebecca Lavrenz, who was found guilty last year on four federal misdemeanor charges related to the United States Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021, while demonstrators protested the 2020 presidential election results, says she will deny a pardon should President-elect Donald J. Trump offer such a deal to her after he takes office on Jan. 20.

The reason? 

Lavrenz, who became known on social media as the “J6 Praying Grandma,” has appealed her case and, should the Washington, D.C. appellate court agree that she is not liable for the $103,000 fine levied because she was acting under rights allowed by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, Lavrenz says the decision would be precedent-setting. But a pardon would negate the appeal.

“The purpose is to do something for our country,” Lavrenz said. “This would be in the best interest of our country.

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Her lawyers initiated the process to appeal the ruling that she did not have a First Amendment right at the Capitol, as a judge in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia issued with her jury conviction on April 4, 2024. She also seeks to have the fine rescinded.

Lavrenz said her lawyers soon will file the appeal brief.

Trump has said he would pardon defendants of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, which began four years ago Monday with demonstrations called “Stop the Steal,” outside the Capitol building and ended in violence, with some rally-goers protesting the 2020 election results on the day of certification wreaked havoc inside and outside the building.

However, it is unknown how many of the 1,572 defendants charged with crimes related to the breach will be considered for pardoning. Of those, 590 individuals are charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, which is a felony, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Lavrenz has a feeling she’ll be among those offered pardons.

The great-grandmother and retired nurse says she went to the event from her home in Falcon, where she runs a bed-and-breakfast, to Washington, D.C., because she felt called by God to attend and pray at the Capitol.

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Video surveillance shows her entering the Capitol building with a group of other rally attendees and being inside for 10 minutes before exiting. Lavrenz said she did not touch anything or do anything or yell anything during that time. She just looked and prayed.

“I’m really elated that President Trump said one of the first things he’d do in office is pardon J-6 defendants,” she said. “There should be justice for all, and I feel like the whole thing was very unfair, we weren’t dealt with fairly, because we were standing up for what we believe.”

She was arrested nearly two years later, after a tipster reported her as being at the event, and federal officials came to her home, and she appeared in December of 2022 for her first hearing in federal District Court in Denver.

After a trial in Washington, D.C., that lasted nearly 26 hours over four days, she was convicted on April 4— and sentenced Aug. 12.

She dodged prison time but has on house arrest ever since, wearing an ankle monitor and being banned from using the internet.

That part hasn’t been bad, Lavrenz said. She’s working on a book about her experiences and also has spent her time reading, reflecting and praying.

While on home confinement, she’s been restricted to only leaving her property for one hour a day, twice a day, which is when she feeds her chickens and goes to the mailbox.

Lavrenz also is making payments toward her $103,000 fine she received. The ankle monitor and internet ban will be lifted next month, but she’ll continue to remain on probation.

“I want to get my voice known,” Lavrenz said. “We have to make America great again, but we have to make it godly, first.

“This is not just about a violation of my rights, but it’s about getting our country back to godliness.”