Rebecca Lavrenz says she was told she only had ten seconds to address President Trump when she met him on an airport tarmac in 2023."I just said, 'Thank you, President Trump, for being obedient to God to stand up for our country. I'm defending our country too, because I'm the J6 Praying Grandma,'" said Lavrenz. "He looked at me with that shocked look on his face, he shook my hand, and he said, 'That's persecution. We need to stop that.'"The 72-year-old calls herself the "J6 Praying Grandma" because that's the nickname she got when she was arrested following the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Lavrenz says her decision to show up that day in 2021 was God's plan, not hers."My son called me, said, 'Mom, are you going to go to the 'Stop The Steal' rally?' and I said, 'I hadn't planned on it,' said Lavrenz. "He says, 'Well, I think you need to pray about it.' It didn't take me very long. I sat down and spent some time with God and he said, 'Rebecca, we're gonna go on an adventure together' and I said, 'Okay, God.' He said, 'I'll be sitting right beside you, and we'll just have a lot of fun and adventure' and I drove the 25 hours."When Lavrenz got there, she says she went to the Capitol grounds and joined a group of Christians singing and praying."Then at about one o'clock, we heard that Vice President Pence would be certifying the votes for the Electoral College, and people were pretty upset about that," she said. "That wasn't what we expected. We expected him to use some of the rights that were granted to us in the Constitution, to at least listen to us."About an hour later, the U.S. Capitol went on lockdown as some of the first rioters breached the building. Lavrenz said she entered through the East Rotunda doors, also known as the Columbus Doors. She says the doors were opened from the inside."I got this thought, and I know it was from the Lord, and he said, 'Rebecca, if those barriers come down and the doors open, I want you to carry my presence into the Capitol.'"KOAA Dianne Derby: There are people who would think you do have the right to protest, you do have the right to petition the government, but you did not have the right to enter a locked building. What gave you that right?Rebecca Lavrenz: First of all, I don't believe we had the power to push that door open. I believe it had to come open from the inside, and when those doors opened, I just knew that I was supposed to go in. And besides that, there's a time that you have to obey God above man.Lavrenz says she went inside peacefully and left minutes later."I didn't touch anything," Lavrenz said. "I was swept up with the crowd. It was like a big rush going into the Capitol. There on the video, Capitol footage, video, there's a gentleman, a police officer, right beside me, almost like a door greeter at Walmart, just saying hi to me, and I was just talking to him. He never told me to leave the building. And so I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. I really didn't." Lavrenz was eventually convicted of four misdemeanor crimes and sentenced to a $103,000 fine and one year of probation, which included six months of house arrest and an order to stay off the internet."At my sentencing I said, 'Your Honor, I respect your position as the judge, but there is a higher judge that I need to obey, and every knee will bow to him one day,'" said Lavrenz. "That's who I serve, and I will suffer whatever needs to be done for God first and then for my country."On Monday, President Trump pardoned her and more than 1,500 other people who were convicted of federal criminal offenses for the January 6th attack. The Bureau of Prisons tells me less than 24 hours later, more than 200 inmates in custody were released.Lavrenz believes it is a "good thing" that the inmates were released. Dianne Derby: But some of those people violently attacked police.Rebecca Lavrenz: I have my doubts about how much of that is really true and I can't say, if someone came into your home, if someone violated a right that you have, would you defend yourself?Lavrenz says she will not accept the pardon and plans to appeal her case to defend her First Amendment rights and prevent her case from setting a precedent. She also wants her criminal record wiped clean, which a pardon does not do."I had no intention of being where I am today, but when the public of the United States, we the people of America, see a 72-year-old grandmother, great grandmother, with an ankle monitor on, banned from the Internet, can't get out of her house except on certain hours of the week, then that wakes them up, and they say, 'If this could happen to her, then what would happen to me?'"I spoke with attorney David McDivitt, who says legally, Lavrenz is allowed to reject the pardon. McDivitt says the pardon also does not stop her ability to continue to appeal her convictions. We will continue to follow her appeals process.Multiple Capitol police officers died in the aftermath of the Capitol attack. Four died by suicide. According to the chief medical examiner in D.C., the next day, another officer had a stroke and died. The medical examiner said the officer died of natural causes.Four Trump supporters died, too. One of them was shot by police. More than 140 police officers were hurt._______Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.