'Pink Hat Lady' ordered to home confinement pending November trial

A federal judge this week ordered a Mercer County woman charged in the Capitol insurrection to remain on home confinement pending trial.

Rachel Powell, who is living near Grove City, became known as the “Pink Hat Lady” because of the hat she was wearing during her alleged participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington, D.C.

She is accused of trying to push through a police line that afternoon and breaking a window and fighting with officers.

Powell is scheduled for a jury trial on eight related counts before U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth on Nov. 15.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney’s office filed a motion seeking to modify Powell’s conditions of release, alleging that she had violated them twice in recent weeks.

The prosecutor said in the motion that Powell went to a bank and visited a brewery during the window of time when she was approved to be working. To ensure she didn’t further violate her release conditions, the government asked that Powell be subject to home electronic monitoring pending trial.

But then, about 12 days later, the prosecution filed another motion — this time noting that GPS monitoring for Powell would not work because she lives in a rural location without the ability for the GPS to connect to a cell tower.

In the second motion, the government asked that Powell be subject to home confinement.

“Thus, where the defendant cannot comply with conditions that allow her to leave her residence for work-related purposes, and there is no effective, alternative way of monitoring her movements throughout the day, the government is requesting the least restrictive means to ensure the defendant is compliant with her conditions of release—that the defendant be placed on strict home confinement,” the motion said.

Lamberth granted the government’s motion this week, writing in his order that Powell is not permitted to leave her residence without the express, advance approval of her pretrial service officer.

Powell has been working for her boyfriend, Joseph Jenkins, who operates a business consulting on slate roofs and composting near Grove City. He submitted a letter to the court explaining Powell’s job duties, which include answering phones, processing all orders, maintaining inventory and gardening.