Verdict: Colorado Springs-area resident found guilty on all charges in Capitol breach trial in D.C.
Rebecca Lavrenz was found guilty Tuesday in federal District Court in the District of Columbia, as she was convicted of four misdemeanors for her participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest that turned violent at the U.S. Capitol building as demonstrators objected to the 2020 presidential election results. Rebecca Lavrenz, known as the "J6 Praying Grandma," was convicted on all four federal misdemeanor charges related to her participation in a Capitol breach protest on Jan. 6, 2021. The trial began March 25 in federal district court in the District of Columbia and ended after nearly 26 hours of deliberation. She could face up to a year in prison and ordered to pay fines of more than $200,000, which excludes legal fees. If found not guilty, she would have been the first defendant in a jury trial fully acquitted of federal charges. An online fundraising appeal to help with her legal expenses had raised nearly $32,000 as of Thursday.
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After a lengthy deliberation that’s been rare for Capitol breach cases, Falcon resident Rebecca Lavrenz, known on social media as the “J6 Praying Grandma,” was convicted on all four federal misdemeanor charges for her participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest of the 2020 presidential election results in Washington, D.C.
The trial began March 25 in federal district court in the District of Columbia and ended after nearly 26 hours of deliberation, when a 12-member jury found Lavrenz guilty of entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol.
The 71-year-old great grandmother and owner of a bed-and-breakfast business where she lives about 14 miles northeast of Colorado Springs could be sentenced to up to a year in prison and ordered to pay fines of more than $200,000, which excludes legal fees.
Lesser sentences for defendants in other Capitol breach cases have included probation, house arrest, restorative probation or counseling classes.
Lavrenz told The Gazette she felt compelled by God to drive across country to the “Stop the Steal” rally more than three years ago and pray for the nation.
“The whole reason I went to the Capitol was to pray,” she said. “I didn’t get into this for myself, I was there to stand up for my country.”
When she went inside the Capitol for 10 minutes with a group of other rally-goers, Lavrenz said, “I felt god’s presence on me.”
Defense attorneys from John Pierce Law presented seven witnesses, while four people testified on behalf of prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, who argued that Lavrenz entered the Capitol without having the authority to do so.
She testified for five hours Monday, and the jury started deliberations at 4:45 p.m. They were released to go home at 5:30 p.m. Monday and resumed deliberations Tuesday, Wednesday and nearly all day Thursday. Lavrenz said she was called back to answer clarification questions several times. The verdict was announced late Thursday afternoon.
Lavrenz said on some Jan. 6 cases, verdicts have been issued as soon as 30 minutes after jurors were released to deliberate.
“The deliberation was good because obviously at least one person on the jury was fighting for me, and many people have been convicted in the first hour,” she said.
She passed the wait by observing other Jan. 6 court proceedings, speaking with other defendants from around the nation, writing thank you notes to supporters — an online fundraising appeal to help with her legal expenses had raised nearly $32,000 as of Thursday — and spending time with her two daughters, who were with her.
“Sometimes there are four Jan. 6 trials going on at once,” she said.
If she had been found not guilty, Lavrenz would have been the first Jan. 6 defendant in a jury trial fully acquitted of federal charges. Two bench trials have been acquitted, and some defendants in jury trials have had some of their charges reduced.
Some people believe that irregularities in the 2020 election tabulation process skewed the results, while others say no substantial evidence of wrongdoing before or after surfaced in the compilation.
Of the 64 cases brought forward by former President Donald Trump and his supporters, they prevailed in one lawsuit in Pennsylvania, which did not include enough votes to overturn the results.
In the 63 other cases, 20 were dismissed before a hearing on the merits, 14 were voluntarily dismissed and 30 included a hearing on the merits.
“Multiple tipsters alerted the FBI” in the days following Jan. 6, 2021, that Lavrenz was among the crowd who entered the Capitol, according to court documents, and FBI agents confirmed her presence on the site by tracing her cell phone and identifying her in video footage.
Interspersed with messages of support on social media, she has faced a barrage of criticism and name-calling.
“I basically laugh about it because I realized if you’re right where God wants you, people are either going to love you or hate you,” Lavrenz said when asked about that. “These things can get on your heart if you don’t watch it, the stuff on social media is so bad and people talk so trashy. I think it’s just how they are.”
When she gets back home, Lavrenz said she wants to launch a podcast featuring interviews with average people about the state of the country under Democratic President Joe Biden and what they are doing to help turn the tide to GOP leadership.
“The average person doesn’t realize they can make a difference,” she said. “We’re never going to change our country until we change the average person.”
Writing a book and going to law school with one of her daughters also could be in Lavrenz’s future.
“I’m going to make my voice so loud that if they try to put me in prison to shut it up, it won’t work,” she said.
Topik: Crime