A mother who attended the January 6, 2021, uprising at the U.S. Capitol has admitted that she “destroyed everything” in her life by her actions at the protest, the day before she began serving a prison sentence over her involvement.
Rachel Powell—who has been dubbed the “Bullhorn Lady” and “Pink Hat Lady” because of her apparel during the uprising—was convicted by jury trial of nine felony and misdemeanor charges in July, and sentenced to 57 months in prison in October.
Some January 6 protesters entered the Capitol while the 2020 election results were being certified in an apparent attempt to prevent the transfer of power. Former President Donald Trump—and many of his supporters—continue to claim that the election was subject to fraud, though no official investigation has found any evidence to support this assertion.
On Tuesday, Powell began her prison term after spending three years confined to her home in rural Pennsylvania wearing an ankle bracelet. The judge also ordered Powell to pay more than $8,000 in restitution, fines and fees.
“I regret [that day]. I have a lot of remorse for ruining my family’s life,” she told CNN on Monday. “In one day, I destroyed everything, really for nothing.”
OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP/Getty Images/Butler County Prison
However, she continued: “I don’t have remorse for attending protests; I don’t have remorse for speaking out and saying that I believe that the election is stolen. I do have remorse for breaking a window and destroying my whole family’s life, and for thinking irrationally.”
“I love my children so much, and so it’s like the last thing they can take from me—that’ll be the hard part, and I don’t deserve this and my kids don’t deserve it,” Powell said, tearing up. Aged 43, she has eight children and six grandchildren.
Newsweek approached the Department of Justice via email for comment on Wednesday.
Powell was convicted of crimes including entering a restricted building with a dangerous weapon, engaging in physical violence and destruction of government property.
Video footage from the uprising shows her using an ice axe to break one of the windows of the Capitol building, through which she and other demonstrators gained entry. Prosecutors alleged that she repeatedly ignored police warnings to leave the premises and used her bullhorn to direct other protesters.
But Powell said she did not bring the ice axe—instead being handed it by another person in the crowd—and was at no point told to leave by police. She also said that being “completely in pain” made her act without thinking.
“I’d been hit with a baton, I’d been grabbed and thrown, I’d been sprayed—my whole body was on fire,” she told CNN. “I don’t think there was rational thinking in my head at that point.”
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Powell described feeling “numb” ahead of the start of her prison sentence, and admitted that during the uprising she “wasn’t smart enough to sit down and be peaceful.”
She turned herself in at a local FBI office on February 4, 2021, where she was arrested. She was charged in April last year.
Powell remains convinced that Trump won the 2020 election and expressed hope that he would win in November, believing he would pardon her.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.