'Pink hat lady' charged in Capitol riot could have bond revoked over mesh face mask | TribLIVE.com
TribLive Logo
| Back | Text Size:
https://triblive.com/local/regional/pink-hat-lady-charged-in-capitol-riot-facing-possible-bond-revocation-over-mesh-face-mask/

'Pink hat lady' charged in Capitol riot could have bond revoked over mesh face mask

Paula Reed Ward
| Friday, April 16, 2021 3:27 p.m.
Courtesy of the FBI
The FBI has charged Rachel Powell of Sandy Lake, accusing her in the Capitol riots of obstruction; depredation of government property; being in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon and violent entry or disorderly conduct.

The woman known from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot as the “Pink hat lady” has 10 days to explain to a federal judge why she shouldn’t have her bond revoked or be held in contempt for actively flouting one of her conditions of release — wearing a mask in public.

Rachel Powell, who is known as an anti-masker, was seen in a social media video posted by her employer — since removed — wearing a mesh mask with holes in it that is pulled up over the bridge of her nose, but through which her mouth and nose and skin are all clearly visible.

During Powell’s detention hearing before U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell on Feb. 11, prosecutors told the court that Powell, who faces eight counts from the Jan. 6 insurrection, adamantly opposes Pennsylvania’s mask mandate.

As part of her order setting Powell’s conditions of release, the judge required that Powell must wear a protective mask covering her nose and mouth whenever she leaves her home.

However, the video shows that Powell was not complying, at least, with the spirit of Pennsylvania’s mask mandate. It was posted on a social media page of Mr. Bookman, a bookstore in Franklin, at 10:51 a.m. on March 31, according to a court filing.

Although the video has been removed from that page, it has since been uploaded to Twitter by HuffPost reporter Ryan J. Reilly.

Her workplace has now removed the video. Rare that thumbing your nose at a judge involves an actual nose! pic.twitter.com/Bp5cwPL2qq

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) April 9, 2021

In the video, Powell at first is talking directly into the camera, smiling and wearing the mesh mask.

“Good morning, everybody, welcome to Mr. Bookman’s page,” she said. “We’re going to do a drawing this morning.”

Powell then turns the camera around to face a woman named “Christy,” who is wearing a red Make America Great Again hat.

Powell then talks about the store’s grand opening and a raffle they had scheduled.

Mr. Bookman, according to its website and Facebook page, opened in January and is owned by Ben and Christy Wilkinson.

A person who answered the phone at the store on Friday afternoon said Powell was not at work.

A message left for the owner or a manager was not immediately returned.

In an order filed in Powell’s court case in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Judge Royce C. Lamberth gave her 10 days to explain herself.

“The court does not take defendant’s willingness to flout the court’s order lightly,” he wrote.

According to the filing, pre-trial services, which is supervising Powell prior to trial, learned about the video on April 12.

When a pre-trial officer contacted Powell, the order said, “defendant was evasive in answering the officer’s questions regarding the material of the mask.”

“Defendant’s decision to appear in a video wearing a mask with holes in it at work mocks compliance with a court’s order setting as a condition of pre-trial release that she ‘wear a mask whenever she leaves her residence,’” Lamberth wrote. “No reasonable person could think the defendant’s ‘mask’ complied with that condition, which Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell imposed to ensure that defendant ‘would not pose a risk to the health and safety of the community when she left her house.’”

Lamberth gave Powell until April 26 to show, in writing, why she should not be held in custody pending trial or held in contempt.

In addition, Lamberth wrote in the order that he was concerned by the reaction of Powell’s attorney to the situation.

According to the filing, when pre-trial services asked Powell where the mask was, “defendant responded that she ‘threw it away per her attorney’s advisement.’”

Lamberth ordered Powell’s attorney to provide an explanation.

A message left with Powell’s attorney, Michael J. Engle, of Philadelphia, was not immediately returned.


Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)