“I was praising God.”
That’s how Bevelyn Williams reacted when she learned she would be pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Williams, who was sentenced to 41 months in prison for an alleged violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act), has gone viral in recent days after video footage showed her exiting prison and greeting her 2-year-old child and husband.
The clip, which was widely shared online and shows Williams giddily embracing her toddler, resonated with thousands — a response she called “emotionally overwhelming.”
“When I look at that video now, I tear up, because, I’m like, ‘Wow … I’m back with my baby,’” she told CBN News. “Like, a part of me was gone, and, so, to just watch the fullness of me be reconnected … I’m still trying to take it in.”
Watch her explain:
Before Williams’ release, she said she hoped Trump would help her.
“I knew Trump wasn’t gonna let me sit in that prison,” she said. “If he won, he was going to get me. I knew that.”
Within hours of Trump’s inauguration, the president began the process of pardoning Williams and 22 others who were convicted of FACE Act violations.
Best video of the week.
Pro-life prisoner and hero Bevelyn Williams reunites with her husband and daughter.
God is good! @mrrickeyvictory @mrsbevelyn pic.twitter.com/0ocoMasmD4
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) January 27, 2025
For Williams, the ability to exit prison after serving just over three months was incredible.
“I was praising God,” she said. “I was in the middle of my cell block, screaming, praying in the Spirit, and praising God, because, once again, He delivered.”
Williams recalled just one week before the pardoning feeling the Lord impress on her heart the Old Testament story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
“They were thrown in that furnace, but what was scheduled to happen to them did not come to pass,” she said. “And [God] was basically weighing it on me, like, ‘Listen, it’s not going to happen. You getting out and seeing your daughter at five years old and missing most of her younger years, it’s not going to happen.’”
A July 2024 press release from the United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York cited a 2020 incident during which the government alleged Williams’ was guilty of “interference, including by threats and force, with individuals seeking to obtain and provide lawful reproductive health services at a reproductive health center in Manhattan.”
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Williams’ actions were physical and reiterated the claim that she prevented people from getting the services they wanted.
“She did so by physically blocking access to clinics, threatening staff, and by force,” he said. “This Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to ensuring that patients exercising their legal right to obtain reproductive health services, and healthcare facilities and their staff providing those services, can do so without unlawful interference or fear of threats or violence.”
But Williams denies some of the claims waged against her. She told CBN News she held a Jesus Matters rally in 2020 but said she did not block doors or slam anyone’s hand, as was alleged.
“I never got arrested,” she said. “I never got a citation. There’s even a video going around on Facebook where I have a court officer saying I never blocked the doors.”
Williams continued, “What was peculiar about my case is that they waited two years to prosecute me right after Roe v. Wade had been overturned to the states.”
She believes the overturning of Roe and former President Joe Biden coming into office led to increased prosecutions of pro-life individuals, ushering in her legal conundrum.
Williams said she wasn’t overtaken by hatred, anger, or rage despite what she saw as unfair prosecution and detainment. Rather, she relied on her faith and understanding of the cost she might pay to make sense of her plight.
“I’m a Christian,” she said. “I’m never gonna sit and be a bitter individual when I know that persecution comes with the package. I knew that when I signed up. I knew that, when I carry my cross, He said, ‘Count the cost.’”
Williams continued, “If you’re a mediocre Christian, you won’t handle it. But if you really are serving God, it’s going to happen. I really was persecuted for my faith. So, really, I was not ashamed of why I was there. I never in my mind thought, ‘Man, I shouldn’t have did it,’ and, if anything, the prayer constantly while I was in prison was for peace, for Shalom. It’s traumatizing to be in that prison.”
Now that she’s free, Williams will continue her pro-life advocacy. She said new doors are opening within the movement.
“I feel like God is placing me up as a display for zeal in Him and how He still delivers,” she said. “And, so, if I can be like that voice of reason to people to just serve God and just trust Him … I feel like my job is to band people together.”
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