- “Bullhorn Lady” Rachel Powell was released from house arrest pending trial on charges related to the January 6 siege of the Capitol.
- Powell, a 40-year-old mother of eight, was filmed wielding a megaphone to lead rioters into the Capitol.
- The terms of her release require her to wear a mask in public at all times.
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A woman in Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania, who was called “bullhorn lady” during the January 6 Capitol riots, was released under house arrest, but said she must wear a mask in public at all times.
Judge Beryl Howell offered the mask mandate after it was made clear that Powell had repeatedly refused to wear masks in the past and was actually fired for refusing to wear one. At the end of December she posted, according to The New Yorker, “I am unashamedly a ‘superspreader'” on Facebook.
Speaking to Powell during her hearing about her release, Howell said her actions were “so unpatriotic that my straight hair curled up,” according to The Daily Beast.
Powell, 40, is one of more than 250 people charged in connection with the January 6 siege of the Capitol.
The mother of eight was filmed in the Capitol shouting instructions into a megaphone and leading rioters around the Capitol. She has been charged with robbing government property, entering restricted buildings or areas with a dangerous weapon, entering restricted buildings or areas, and violent entry or disorderly conduct.
According to prosecutors, Powell “picked up a large pipe and used it as a battering ram to break into the United States Capitol.” Then, amplified by a large megaphone, she gathered her fellow rioters and gave instructions on how to “take” the Capitol. , including instructions that revealed operational knowledge of the Capitol’s layout. “
Prosecutors said she ordered rioters to “coordinate together if you are going to occupy this building,” warning them to “break another window.”
Powell was the subject of a Feb. 2 New Yorker article by Ronan Farrow, in which she identified photos of herself taken at the Capitol on the day of the siege.
Referring to her name “bullhorn lady,” she said to Farrow, “Listen, if someone doesn’t help and doesn’t lead people, more people die? That’s all I’m going to say about that. I can’t say it anymore. talk to a lawyer. ‘
At the time of the interview, Powell was considered a fugitive and was arrested two days later on February 4 after local authorities received a tip about her whereabouts.
Prosecutors said her decision to interview The New Yorker instead of turning herself in showed a “disregard for law enforcement goals.”
In her interview with The New Yorker, Powell admitted that she had not voted for Trump in 2016 and that she had a hard time deciding whether to vote for Trump in the 2020 election.
She also noted that Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, had been one of her primary sources of information, despite his repeated unfounded allegations of electoral fraud.