'Bullhorn Lady' Rachel Powell, Mercer Co. Woman Arrested For Role In Capitol Riot, Released From Jail Pending Upcoming Trial
BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA/AP) -- Rachel Powell, the Mercer County woman accused of using a large pipe to break a window in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. and giving directions to fellow insurrectionists about how to take the building, has been released from jail.
Powell, a mother of eight, was released from jail Friday afternoon following a second federal judge's ruling.
KDKA's Andy Sheehan asked her about a statement made by the judge referencing a New Yorker article that said Powell expressed no remorse.
"Nobody ever asked me if I had any remorse, and the only thing I can say right now is there's places people can donate to my legal fund," Powell said.
By order of the court, Powell has been relieved of all weapons, including her registered AK-47 and Glock handgun, and she will be confined to her house in Sandy Lake, Mercer County, which the FBI raided last week.
She, however, will not be with any of her eight children. A Mercer County judge has given her estranged husband full custody pending her undergoing a psychological evaluation.
And leaving jail Friday, Powell was wearing a mask in compliance with another of the judge's stipulations. Powell, a virulent anti-masker, hasn't worn one for the entire pandemic. At her house is a sign in the window that reads "Masks equal Slavery."
Prosecutors said Powell, who the FBI says is the woman in a pink hat shown in video shouting instructions through a bullhorn, should remain locked up before trial.
Powell, a 40-year-old mother of eight from Sandy Lake, is a "leading participant in the most violent insurrection to occur at the U.S. Capitol in over 200 years," and "fueled a situation that threatened the peaceful transfer of power in the United States," federal prosecutors wrote.
Powell's attorney, Michael Engle, argued in court that Powell does not have a criminal record, does not pose a flight risk and did not physically harm anyone during the insurrection.
An FBI affidavit said that Powell was with a group inside the Capitol and provided detailed instructions on the building's layout, telling rioters that "they should 'coordinate together if you are going to take this building.'" Powell also noted that they "have another window to break," the affidavit said.
"She was no onlooker; she perpetrated violence and encouraged others to do the same — all aimed at overcoming law enforcement, intimidating public officials, and undermining the Constitution and the peaceful transfer of presidential power," prosecutors said Wednesday.
Authorities said a search of Powell's house turned up several smashed cellphones and two "go bags," one with ammunition, rope and duct tape and the other with throwing stars, knives and lighters. A bag found in Powell's car had a tarp, zip ties and two loaded magazines for an AK-47 rifle, authorities said.
Powell has been charged with violent entry or disorderly conduct, obstruction, depredation of government property, entering a restricted building and being in that building with a dangerous weapon.
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