Federal judge refuses to dismiss charge against Capitol rioter known as the 'pink hat lady'
A federal judge upheld a count of obstruction of an official proceeding against accused Capitol rioter Rachel Powell, a Pennsylvania mother who's also known by the monikers "pink hat lady" and "bullhorn lady" for her actions on Jan. 6, the Pittsburg Post-Gazette reports.
Powell has been accused of eight crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, one them being obstruction of an official proceeding. Her legal team argued that the obstruction of an official proceeding charge should be dismissed because they say the meeting of Congress to certify Joe Biden's victory was not an official proceeding, but Judge Lamberth rejected that argument.
"As the Court explained before, and as every court in this district to address the issue has found, the vote certification was an official proceeding as contemplated by [federal law]," the judge said, adding that video captures Powell's "enthusiastic participation in these crimes" and that she "gleefully celebrated" once inside.
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Powell also posted on Facebook in October 2020, saying "the only way this is probably capable of being fixed is bloodshed because I’m not so sure our government can be fixed the political way anymore either." After the riot, she said on Facebook that the legal route wasn't working and that it's "time to rise."
Powell allegedly left her children unattended to travel to D.C.