Powell faces more charges
A former Butler County woman who was charged with participating in the U.S. Capitol riot faces new charges from the District of Columbia, according to an unsealed grand jury indictment.
On Feb. 4, Rachel Marie Powell, 40, of Sandy Lake, Mercer County, was arrested by the FBI after authorities determined that she participated in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, where more than 100 law enforcement members were injured as hundreds of rioters broke into the government building, according to reports.
At the time, images were released asking for the public's help in finding Powell, who was known as the “pink hat lady” and “bullhorn lady.”
In the new case, a grand jury charged her with eight counts related to the alleged incident. One of the counts accuses Powell of possessing an “ice axe and a large wooden pole.”
The other counts are related to her alleged actions at the Capitol, including obstruction of an official proceeding, aiding and abetting, destruction of government property and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
Powell's previous case, which is still active, covers the same alleged incident, but prosecutors in that case did not provide evidence of an ice axe, instead relying on video that shows Powell allegedly battering a window of the Capitol building with a large wooden pole.
Powell, who previously lived in West Sunbury, was charged in the original case with obstruction, depredation of government property, entering a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, entering a restricted building or grounds and violent entry or disorderly conduct.
Powell was released from Butler County Prison in February and put on house arrest.
Powell's lawyer Michael Engle represents her in both cases. In previous court appearances, Engle asserted his client's innocence and noted that she did not have a prior criminal record.
