WASHINGTON– Colorado Republicans closed out their inauguration eve celebration with a prayer for the ‘J6 praying grandma.’
Coloradans who traveled in the nation’s capitol for President Trump’s inauguration gathered on the snowy eve to count down the hours to the inauguration ceremony. Many were ecstatic about Trump’s return and what he can do for social issues in Colorado, even as Colorado GOP infighting hangs over their heads.
Rebecca Lavrenz, also known as the ‘J6 praying grandma’ said she received special permission from a judge to attend the inauguration. A judge convicted her of six months of home confinement in August.
“My attorneys just asked if I wanted to see if I could get a motion from the judge to attend the inauguration,” Lavrenz said. “It’s kind of a celebration for me, because I feel like I stood up for my First Amendment rights when I went to the Capitol. I went there to pray for my country and because of that I have been treated like a criminal.”
She was convicted for crossing a police line and entering the U.S. Capitol in protest of election certification on January 6, 2021.
Lavrenz said she thinks Trump will offer pardons to January 6 rioters, but she would not accept. She said she appealed her case and thinks she can win because being at the Capitol was her First Amendment right. Prosecutors in her case criticized her for profiting off her celebrity conviction through media appearances.
Maria Del Carmen Guzman-Weese, a longtime GOP activist who volunteered to help flip Colorado’s 8th congressional district from Democrat to Republican, said Trump could help Colorado by endorsing the Colorado GOP Chair.
Referencing issues the Colorado GOP has had this past year, she said for the party to get anything done and hold on to the 8th congressional district’s seat, it needs to be run like a business. She would not announce who she supports for chair specifically.
“I’m looking for someone who will run the party like a business,” Guzman-Weese said. “The conflict is sad.”
She also said the party chair needs to be someone who does not run for elected office. Current Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams threw his hat in the ring for Colorado’s 5th Congressional District in this past election cycle. Williams lost in the primary. The eventual winner of that race, Congressman Jeff Crank, attended the event along with his fellow newly elected Republican colleagues, U.S. Reps. Gabe Evans, from the Eighth District and Jeff Hurd, from the Third District.
Darcy Schoening, who recently announced her run for Colorado GOP Chair, organized the celebration. She said she is ready for the Trump administration to gut the Department of Education.
“It’s such a disaster and our schools in Colorado are so bad,” Schoening said. “That is specifically the single greatest victory that I hope he will accomplish because we really need to dismantle the Department of Education.”
Hope Scheppelman, Colorado GOP Vice Chair said she was elated for a second Trump presidency and even participated in a wreathing ceremony with him earlier that day. She emphasized that Trump is going to make sure the government affirms that “there are only two genders.”
Although Scheppelman said her work is not done in politics, she would not share whether she’s running for Colorado GOP Chair.
“My work as a volunteer in politics will never be done,” Scheppelman said. “I am not sure where I’m going in politics, so I can’t answer any questions about sharing, running or anything right now.”
