Grandma faces possibility of jail time for praying inside Capitol Jan 6

By Steve Rees —

A 72-year-old Colorado woman convicted of entering the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 is returning to Washington D.C. for sentencing by the judge who presided over her trial.

Rebecca Lavrenz, who insists her only crime is praying inside the Capitol, will face District Court Judge Zia Faruqua in a hearing set for Monday, August 12.

A jury found Lavrenz – dubbed the praying grandma – guilty of four misdemeanor charges brought by the U.S. government in a District of Colombia court on April 4, 2024.

The convictions are for roaming in the Capitol – a restricted building – conduct deemed disorderly and disruptive, and for parading, demonstrating or picketing in the halls of Congress.

A Christian since her teen years, Lavrenz told Federal Bureau of Investigation agents before her arrest the only intent was prayer – not violence – inside the Capitol where police granted access.

Sixty-nine on Jan. 6, Lavrenz testified she prayed for 10 minutes inside the building only after Capitol police opened the doors. She left peacefully upon learning lawmakers had left the building, Lavrenz told the jury.

Convictions on all four charges carry penalties ranging from house arrest, prison time to steep fines.

Deemed a national security risk, Lavrenz is driving to D.C. for the Aug. 12 hearing, before returning to her home in the Colorado Springs area – hopefully a few days after sentencing.

In most cases, sentences for Jan. 6 convictions commence after the hearings, sometimes up to two months out.

Lavrenz, who believes God told her to pray for restoration of his covenants with America, thinks people will be angry if she’s given a prison sentence for entering the peoples’ house.

Spiritually Lavrenz believes she was chosen by God for an assignment – primarily to know Him and make Him known – by carrying His presence into the seat of government.

Like Daniel who prayed in defiance of a pagan king’s orders and suffered punishment for it in a lion’s den, Lavrenz hopes to wake up people to God.

 “I’m not saying I’m special or anything like that. This whole thing is about what God wants. It’s about restoring covenant,” said Lavrenz, who believes she is fighting rebellion like David’s battle with Goliath in the giant’s defiance of God.

A grandmother, Lavrenz doesn’t fear prison – though she believes her arrest was unjust – because it will wake up more people. She thinks her prayers and God’s presence in the Capitol prevented violence.

“I do know that when I was in there all I could see in my mind’s eye was my three youngest grandchildren. They were seven, five and three at the time. All I could think about was them and the freedoms I had as a kid,” said Lavrenz.

She believes the mission inside the Capitol was primarily spiritual, but naturally the stand was for her First Amendment rights, specifically to petition government for a redress of grievances.

When her daughter Laura Lavrenz told her she might be arrested – after watching news reporting from the Capitol – the two agreed to pray.

“I asked God if there’s something I did wrong, something for which I need to repent. I felt like Jesus was saying from His throne next to Father God, ‘Rebecca, I’m proud of you for obeying me – doing what I asked you to do. I chose you for that,’” she said.

Despite arrest by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and all that goes along with criminal proceedings – attorneys, handcuffs, shackles, a mugshot, urine sample and prison cell – Lavrenz has been courageous throughout the four-year-ordeal, said Laura Lavrenz, a Regent University graduate.

One of Lavrenz’s historical heroes, Nathan Hale, did what President George Washington asked of him by spying on the British. Caught and sentenced to death by hanging, Hale famously said, “My only regret is that I have but one life to give for my country.”

“I feel that way. I feel like I’m obeying God because He loves this country. He has a destiny for our nation,” Lavrenz said.

Pursuing a degree in government at Regent herself, Lavrenz is particularly interested in covenants between God and early visitors to this continent, specifically with settlers in 1607 and then the Pilgrims in 1620.

“Both of those covenants – 13 years apart – stated this country was to give glory to God and advance the Christian faith,” said Lavrenz, who attended a conference highlighting the first landing of Godly settlers in Jamestown, Virginia.

Part of her assignment at the Capitol, Lavrenz said, was to declare those covenants on Jan. 6, 2021.

During her legal proceedings, Lavrenz told her private attorneys that God led her to reject a plea deal. He impressed this on her heart: “Rebecca, do not take a plea; it’s not of me.”

“They’re not concerned about getting me free. It’s been more about justice and purpose,” Lavrenz said of her legal team, John Pierce Law.

One of Lavrenz’s attorneys, Roger Root, called her trial “fake” during legal arguments because references to the First Amendment were disallowed in the courtroom.

“They are going to appeal my case on several grounds. They said it could even go to the Supreme Court,” said Lavrenz, who is considering pursuing a law degree from Regent with her daughter Laura.

Laura Lavrenz, who earned two degrees from Regent, is an advance lead person for former President Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House. She arranged a meeting between the two.

“I told him I’m fighting for our country, too, because I’m a January 6 defendant. He looked at me and said, ‘O my that is persecution. We need to stop that.’ He repeated it a couple times,” Rebecca Lavrenz said.

 Her 9-year-old grandson McGwire Lavrenz still asks his parents three years after Rebecca’s arrest, “Why do we have to pray for grandma if she didn’t do anything wrong?”