"If I had to do it again, I would do it differently": Quebec woman who tried to assassinate Donald Trump wants to return to Canada

"He’s a grandfather too. Perhaps he’ll understand that I want to be closer to my grandchildren," Pascale Ferrier told our Bureau of Investigation from her Washington prison last September. This marked her first interview with a media outlet, nearly three years after her arrest.

For two hours, Ferrier, who previously lived in Saint-Hubert on Montreal’s South Shore before committing her crime, answered our questions during our visit to the Central Correctional Center in the District of Columbia.

In a large room with white walls illuminated by fluorescent lights, two guards monitored our interview from a distance. Note-taking was prohibited, so Ferrier's quotes had to be transcribed only after leaving the detention center.

The purpose of the meeting was to understand how a French woman who led an orderly life in Quebec ended up attempting to assassinate the 45th President of the United States.

No Remorse

"It takes someone to do it. If I don’t do it, who will? If I had to do it again, I might do it differently. I am an activist for justice," Ferrier declared with conviction in the prison’s visiting room, where she is serving a 22-year sentence.

She’s not the only one who has tried to target the former president. On July 13, the Republican candidate narrowly escaped a shooting that killed a spectator during a partisan speech in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bullet tore off part of his ear, but the shooter was quickly subdued.

Throughout American history, several candidates or sitting presidents have been the targets of assassination attempts. However, Ferrier’s was the only one carried out by a Quebec woman.

When she pleaded guilty, Ferrier showed no remorse, lashing out at the court on January 25, 2023, saying it was not "the best decision, but the least harmful decision proposed by the American system of injustice."

Rebel

"I’ve always been a rebel," says Ferrier, her piercing blue eyes flashing.

Ferrier admitted in court to manufacturing ricin, which she placed in envelopes along with a letter addressed to Trump, urging him to withdraw his candidacy for the 2020 presidential election.

The mail was intercepted before reaching the Oval Office.

"There wasn’t enough, honestly, to kill Trump," she claimed, even though the court had stated that the doses of ricin were "potentially lethal."

She was arrested at the Canada-U.S. border on September 20, 2020, at the Peace Bridge crossing in Buffalo, where border agents found her in possession of a loaded firearm.

"I wanted to come back when I got to the border; on the camera, you can see me trying to return to Canada, but I didn’t succeed. I knew I was going to be arrested."

During our interview, Ferrier revealed that she had acquired the weapon in Texas a year earlier.

In 2019, while traveling through Texas in a motorhome, she was arrested and charged with two counts of illegal possession of a firearm and one count of falsifying government documents.

Mental State

In a large room where two chairs were placed facing each other, Ferrier, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, appeared grateful for the visit from Canada.

Her daughter and son, who live in Quebec, had not visited her at the time of the interview. "Even though my daughter thinks I’m crazy, I have no psychiatric records anywhere," she said.

However, the court had raised doubts about Ferrier’s "inconsistent" behavior. "It’s almost like two different personalities," remarked Judge Dabney Friedrich during sentencing.

"My son thinks I’m impressionable," she added.

So, did this 57-year-old woman act alone, or was she influenced by a group?

Social Networks

Ferrier was notably reticent when discussing her acquaintances on social networks.

"I was in a private group. I don’t feel comfortable talking about how we communicated, but we had a plan," she admitted. "There were others who wanted to do the same thing. We were gathering information, you know... We knew things. My alias was Jane. We may not have been a militia, but we had a goal. When I got arrested, everyone disappeared. I don’t want to talk about it now," she concluded.

No evidence presented in the American legal proceedings suggested that Ferrier had accomplices.

Difficult Childhood

The self-proclaimed "activist" did not hesitate to highlight her difficult childhood multiple times.

Ferrier grew up in Valence, in southeastern France. She distanced herself from her family after her father died at the age of 53.

"I was quite lonely, my parents didn’t have much time. I think they didn’t have much interest in us either," she lamented.

"My mother refused to speak to me after I was arrested. She told my daughter, ‘You should mourn your mother.’"

Imprisoned With Trump Supporters

Her only friends behind bars are two women, including Jessica Watkins, a former member of the Oathkeepers, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for her role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.

"I played a lot of cards here with Jessica Watkins... We understand that we don’t think the same, but we respect each other. She taught me how to play Magic," Ferrier shared, noting that her appearance has remained unchanged since her arrest.

University

Now a grandmother, Ferrier is taking courses at the renowned Georgetown University.

"Before you arrived, I had my graduation from Georgetown. It was the first time I had real chicken and dessert in a long time. I’ve read 266 books in prison," she said.

Documents in our possession confirm that she has successfully completed courses in science, sociology, and philosophy.

"Here, you have to mind your own business, not ask too many questions. There are murderers and lots of violent people," she observed.

In 2039

Ferrier was recently transferred to a medium-security penitentiary in Hazelton, West Virginia.

She seems determined to keep much of her story a secret, although she is in discussions with a Quebec filmmaker who also visited her in prison.

She will be 72 when she is eligible for release on April 4, 2039, ensuring she will no longer pose a threat to former President Trump, even if he is re-elected next November.