The FBI has nabbed an Idaho resident and co-founder of the far-right-wing group People’s Rights Network. Pam Hemphill is also one of its leaders, Ammon Bundy is another. After the riot, she posted a lengthy video showing her at the Capitol on January 6 with the infamous “Q Shaman” dressed in animal skins and a helmet with horns.
She commented on the video about “something similar at the Idaho Capitol.” It appeared that she was referring to a homegrown terrorist event led by Bundy and others in his People’s Rights Network. They stormed a public gallery within the Idaho Capitol Building a year ago in an apparent dry run for January 6.
She has been seen frequently at the group’s events and live streaming. Hemphill was the second person from Idaho connected with People’s Rights Network to be arrested for her connection to the January 6 coup. The other was Yvonne St. Cyr who was charged with two misdemeanors, disruptive and disorderly conduct.
Hemphill was charged with “four misdemeanors. They include violent or disorderly conduct,” The Boise State Public Radio reported. The court records of her case indicted that a public defender would represent her, but that office declined to comment on her case.
On December 28 she wrote, according to the public radio station:
‘It’s not going to be a FUN Trump Rally that is planned for January 6th, its (SIC) a WAR! The fight for America is REAL, show up I don’t want to hear your excuses. We have no second chances, if Millions and I mean Millions show up we may have a chance. FIND A WAY!’
Then, she posted a picture of herself with a serious gun and this comment:
‘Happy New Year! On my way to Washington DC January 6th!’
The Idaho Statesman reported that as of Tuesday night, a criminal complaint in Hemphill’s case remained sealed:
‘After the Jan. 6 riot, Hemphill shared some of her videos with WUSA, a CBS-affiliated TV station in Washington, D.C., and talked to a reporter with the station. WUSA reported that Hemphill says she ‘made it inside the Capitol, but she claims she was pushed in and got hurt before an officer came to help her.’
WUSA’s reported she “rushed up the stairs:”
‘Hemphill, a Trump supporter from Idaho, rushed up the stairs as soon as the doors were getting smashed. The self-proclaimed citizen journalist spent more than 30 minutes capturing the events as rioters tried to get in and yelling at police. For several minutes, you can see a man with face paint and a furry Viking headdress dubbed ‘QAnon Shaman’ urging people to leave after President Donald Trump in his Twitter video told protesters to stand down.’
Bundy’s group hit the national headlines when it occupied a federal wildlife refuge headquarters near Burns, Oregon in 2016. The man, his brother Ryan, and LaVoy Finicum refused to surrender. The latter two were shot, but Finicum died, according to The Oregonian.
He scoffs at the “anti-government label” and claimed he never rallied for “a revolution to overthrow the government.” Instead, Bundy announced he will be running for Idaho’s governor. He told The Washington Post:
‘I am definitely anti-corrupt-government, anticronyism.’
An Assistant Professor of Political Science at Boise State University Jeffrey Lyons indicated that Bundy was one of the “politically extreme candidates garnering attention and support not only in Idaho but also across the country — and across party lines:”
‘In American politics, it’s a good time to be in the ideological extreme, and we have seen success in local, state, and federal elections and across both parties people running on an anti-establishment platform.’
Lyons included Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) in that group. He continued:
‘People aren’t satisfied, so you have this sense of anger toward how things have been going and as a result rejection to people who have been running the show.
‘Bundy claimed he was e “sick and tired of all the political garbage:”’“I’m tired of our freedoms being taken from us, and I’m tired of the corruption that is rampant in our state government.’
President Joe Biden has been an advocate for tighter gun laws and abortion rights. In the video, the Nevada farmer warned President Joe Biden against:
‘[Don’t] try to take away our gun rights, freedom of religion, parental rights, and more.’
‘The government is supposed to be there to defend peoples’ lives and property; they are not supposed to be an intrusion, [but he would be]. a governor that leaves people alone, allows them to trade, to speak, to assemble, to worship.’
Bundy has been a Republican and for “minimal government intrusion in people’s lives:”
‘[He has] turned away from these principles [and] failed to stand for their rights and liberties. It needs to be shaken up. Republicans need to start serving the people again rather than serving themselves.’
Professor of Sociology at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas Robert Futrell said the terrorist is “tapping into a political and social climate in which extreme ideologies have moved closer to the Republican’s politics:”
‘When you move that acceptability, you are changing the conversation in important ways that allow the most extreme to have opportunities to get into that conversation and claim legitimacy that they weren’t able to claim years ago.’
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
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