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.
Rebecca Lavrenz was convicted on April 4 on four federal misdemeanor charges, including entering and remaining in a restricted building, and disorderly and disruptive conduct. She faces up to a year in prison and $200,000 in fines, with her sentencing scheduled for Aug. 12.
President Trump took to social media on Friday to denounce the conviction.
“Rebecca Lavrez, also known as the ‘J6 Praying Grandma,’ has been unfairly targeted by Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, and now faces up to 1 YEAR in prison for peacefully walking around the Capitol, and praying for our Failing Nation on January 6th!” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.
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.
“As I said before, the Justice Department will hold all January 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under the law—whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy,” Mr. Garland said in a speech on Jan. 5.
More than 1,350 people have been charged with various crimes in relation to the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, ranging from misdemeanor offenses such as trespassing to felonies such as seditious conspiracy and assaulting police officers.
Of these, roughly 800 have been sentenced, with nearly two-thirds receiving some time in prison.
‘I Went There To Pray’
Ms. Lavrenz, who calls herself the “J6 Praying Great-Grandma” in her X account bio, was convicted by a federal jury on April 4 on four criminal counts.
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.
In an April 5 appearance on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” program, Ms. Lavrenz said she only spent 10 minutes inside the Capitol and that she traveled to Washington on Jan. 6 to pray for America’s future.
“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.
Several days before the start of her trial, Ms. Lavrenz posted a video of herself online as she entered the Capitol grounds for the first time since Jan. 6, 2021.
“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.
She has set up a GiveSendGo crowdfunding page to help pay for her legal bills and as of Saturday had received over $82,000 in donations.
Alice Giordano contributed to this report.
