First appearance on Fox: Joan Bell, 76, was in disbelief when she heard the news Thursday afternoon that she was one of the pro-life activists pardoned by President Donald Trump.
“We didn’t know if that meant we could be out in a few weeks or months or what, we didn’t really know. I knew we were pardoned,” Bell, a grandmother of eight, told Fox News. Digital Friday. “So I ran upstairs because I had a rosary every night.”
After completing a prayer and Bible study with other inmates, Bell, a lifelong pro-life advocate, was told by several other inmates that her husband, Christopher Bell, appeared on Laura Ingraham's FOX News I was told that he appeared on the show and said that he was indeed one of the other 23 pardoned people. .
Pro-life participants could face up to 10 years in prison: 'political witch hunt'
President Donald Trump pardoned 23 pro-life activists on Thursday. (Getty/Christopher Bell)
“It was overwhelmingly beautiful,” Bell recalled. “Everyone was clapping.” She was then told by a guard to pack her bags to be released later that night.
“We're so thankful for Mr. Trump, and just feeling the fresh air, God's beautiful air, it's just amazing,” Bell said. “Just being able to go out and be with my husband and son is just amazing. There are no words to describe that kind of freedom.”
She added that she and her husband are planning to go on a “second honeymoon” soon.
According to President Biden's Department of Justice, Ms. Bell, who lives in New Jersey, will be sentenced to prison in November 2023 for conspiring with other activists to participate in a “blockade” at an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., in October 2020. He was sentenced to more than a year in prison (Ministry of Justice).
Pro-life activist found guilty of conspiracy in 2020 'rescue operation' at DC clinic
Joan Bell, 76, (center) is pictured with her church community and husband Christopher Bell after President Donald Trump pardoned her and 22 others on Thursday. There is. (Christopher Bell)
Prosecutors in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia Pro-life activists argued that Violating the FACE Act of 1994, a federal law that prohibits physical violence, threats of force, or intentional damage to property to prevent someone from obtaining or providing abortion services. did.
The activists were immediately taken into custody after being sentenced by Judge Colleen Koller Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a Clinton appointee.
In signing the pardon on Thursday, the day before Friday's annual general meeting. march for life “They should not have been prosecuted,” President Trump said at the rally.
Trump pardons pro-life participants; Fox approves
“Many of them are elderly,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “They should not have been indicted. I'm very honored to sign this. I'm sure they'll be happy.”
Bell, along with Paula Paulette Harlow, Jean Marshall, and John Hinshaw, were all about 70 years old when they were imprisoned.
“It's very moving that he knew our case personally,” Bell said of Trump. “I want to hug him.”
lawyer of thomas more society Earlier this month, the law firm formally asked the Trump administration for pardons for 21 pro-life advocates it represented.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order and document issuing pardons for the January 6 defendants in the Oval Office of the White House on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025, in Washington. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)
Steve Crampton: “The heroic peace protesters who were wrongly imprisoned by the Biden Justice Department will be freed so they can return to their families, eat with their families, and enjoy the freedoms they were never meant to have.” ,” a senior adviser at the Thomas More Society said in a statement.
“These heroic peace protesters were treated shamefully by Biden's Justice Department, many of them branded as felonies, and lost many of the rights they take for granted as American citizens.”
Crampton said in an earlier interview with Fox News Digital that it would be difficult to find an “impartial jury” and that most of the jurors would be either Planned Parenthood donors or pro-choice advocates in the case. He said that. He called Washington, D.C., “the most pro-abortion city in America.”
“She can say pro-death words, but we weren't allowed to say pro-life words,” Bell said of the judge at trial. Nevertheless, she said it was more “heartbreaking” to be prosecuted for her religious beliefs.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
President Trump took steps this week to pardon more than 1,000 jailed January 6th rioters, along with a number of other executive orders related to immigration and cryptocurrency, as well as orders to declassify the MLK and JFK files. Ta.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division for comment.
