Rebecca Lavrenz doesn’t want to go to prison, but for the past four months the 72-year-old great-grandmother, retired registered nurse and small-business owner in El Paso County has been steeling herself for that possibility.

“I don’t think it’s right. I’m not happy about it. But I’d rather be in prison obeying God than be out doing what I want to do,” she said last week at her home in Falcon, east of Colorado Springs.

After nearly 26 hours of deliberation over four days — considered lengthy and unusual for Jan. 6 defendants — a jury found Lavrenz guilty on April 4 of four misdemeanors she was charged with for entering the U.S. Capitol at the “Steal the Vote” rally on Jan. 6, 2021.

As a Christian, Lavrenz said she had felt called by God to attend the protest former President Donald Trump supporters held over the results of the November 2020 election as a Joint Session of Congress met to certify the Electoral College vote.

At the Capitol, she prayed outside the building and then walked with the crowd that she says guards beckoned inside. She looked around and after 10 minutes exited the building, video footage shows.

Trial begins for Falcon woman who says she carried God inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021

The crowd surged inside and some people became violent. About one-third of the 1,470 people arrested that day have faced felony charges in District and Superior Court in the District of Columbia, according to the Department of Justice.

Lavrenz’s misdemeanor charges were for 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.

Lavrenz testified that she did not yell, touch anything or behave violently or unruly inside or outside the Capitol.

“I just wanted lawmakers to listen to us,” she said.

The group she was among did not encounter any congressional leaders on their trek inside, which is why she said she left after just a few minutes.

If a District of Columbia magistrate judge decides at Lavrenz’s sentencing on Aug. 12 that her actions deserve incarceration, she’ll head to prison for up to a year, likely at Denver Women’s Correctional Facility.

Or she could be sentenced to months of house arrest. Another possibility is that she escapes doing time and is ordered to continue the probation status she’s been on. She could also be fined $200,000 or more. 

Lavrenz said she’s not scared because she’s focused on “whatever it takes for God to use me for our country.”

“We don’t have a just system; it wasn’t a fair trial. They’re out to get me no matter what,” she said. “I would consider myself to serve our real country as a political prisoner.”

Dressed in a striped blue-and-white button-down shirt, a white skirt and a pin that says, “We the People,” Lavrenz sat in her home office, also known as her “Trump room,” and spoke of life after the trial.

Lavrenz has been busy since returning home from the 25-hour drive from the nation’s capital. Flying anywhere while flagged as a high security risk presents a whole set of extra pat-downs and bureaucratic red tape that doesn’t seem worth the hassle, she said.

Taking urine analysis tests and adhering to other conditions of probation has been restrictive but not worrisome for Lavrenz, who said she’s never taken any drugs and doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke anything.

Over the past four months, she has spoken at about 50 engagements, including at churches of varying Christian denominations and other venues in Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Colorado and other states.

“After the trial, I feel like God wanted to amplify my voice,” Lavrenz said. “This ideology we have going on in our country is to shut America down. If you asked every one of those people who were arrested, they’d say they were trying to stand up for freedom, but they’re trying to make us be quiet. Their agenda is to shut us up.”

She’d never even thought about public speaking before. But she believes God has given her the strength to promote a platform to “wake people up.”

No scripted speech or teleprompter for her. Lavrenz said she “trusts God” to give her the words on the fly when she’s talking to audiences that have numbered in the hundreds.

Attendees have told her she inspires them and gives them courage.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes for God to use me for our country, so our country can get back to what God wants — to turn back to nationalism, to ‘We the people,’” Lavrenz said. “This is not about me; what I’m doing is not for my own financial gain or glory.”

Lavrenz said she’s considering appealing the jury verdict and has raised about $162,500 toward her legal fees and expenses.

She’s one of 10 women featured in the book, “Ashli: The Untold Story of the Women of January 6,” written by journalist Jack Cashill of Kansas City and released in June.

The book’s title refers to Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from California who was fatally shot during the protest while she tried to climb through a shattered window near a barricaded door that led to the Speaker’s Lobby.

“He did a very good job,” Lavrenz said of author, who attended part of her trial.

A bi-partisan congressional investigation a few months after the protest determined that no charges would be filed against U.S. Capitol police over the death of Babbitt, one of several people whose deaths were determined to be related to the demonstration that turned riotous. 

One of Lavrenz’s four children works for the Trump campaign, as someone who leads him at events such as rallies and appearances.

Lavrenz met the former president last August at the Iowa State Fair. Two framed photos of her and Trump hang in her office, which has numerous patriotic accents.

She vividly remembers the 10 seconds she was allotted when meeting Trump.

“I said, “Thank you for standing up for our country, I’m standing up, too. I’m a J6 defendant.’”

Trump replied, “Oh my goodness. This is persecution. We need to do something about this,” Lavrenz said. “And he gave me a hug.”

Trump also had tweeted his objection to the guilty verdict in a post on X, formerly Twitter, and the social media’s owner, Elon Musk, also referenced Lavrenz’s plight.

Lavrenz believes the United States was founded and created on principles of the Christian faith, and that God formed a covenant with its people, which she seeks to continue.

She’s become known as the J6 Praying Grandma on social media and on her website, “Restoring Godly Culture.” Lavrenz regularly updates her online newsletter called, “Make America Godly Again.”

“I feel like they’re not going to stop at anything,” she wrote after last month’s assassination attempt on Trump.

Public support for her case has been strong, she said, adding that she’s been surprised that people want to hear her speak.

“At an event in Wichita, there were 100 people in that room, and I felt like every person came up to me afterward to talk,” Lavrenz said. “I get emotional every time I say these words: ‘There’s so much love for this country.’”

What with being gone for six weeks in the spring in preparation for and after the trial, Lavernz says her business in Falcon has suffered.

Since 2008 she has run a rural bed-and-breakfast where guests are encouraged to find “rest and restoration,” as the inn’s name implies. It’s advice she tries to follow herself.

Some of her advocates have told her they will attend the sentencing and address the judge.

She requests that people “pray for our country and do your part. Don’t turn a blind eye.”

She also asks people to pray that what God wants is what happens in her sentencing.

That’s what she’s praying for.