The Justice Department is seeking eight years in prison for a Pennsylvania woman accused of directing Jan. 6 rioters into the Capitol building with a bullhorn.
Federal prosecutors said in a sentencing memo Wednesday they are seeking eight years in prison for Rachel Marie Powell, 41, who was convicted on all charges brought against her in July. Obstruction of an official proceeding, destruction of government property, entering a restricted area with a weapon and engaging in violence on Capitol grounds were among her charges.
The prosecutors said that they are seeking the eight-year sentence due to “her conduct on January 6, 2021, including her violent altercations with law enforcement at the West Plaza, her smashing of a window at the Lower West Terrace with an ice axe and a cardboard pole, her encouragement and instructions to other rioters on how to ‘take’ the U.S. Capitol, and for her utter lack of remorse.”
Powell was seen at the Capitol building that day instructing people how to breach the Capitol with a bullhorn, according to evidence presented by prosecutors. Video footage also shows Powell giving detailed instructions on the layout of the building after individuals asked questions like, “What’s the floor plan?” according to the court documents.
Powell was arrested in February 2021, shortly after she gave an interview with The New Yorker magazine, where she admitted to using the bullhorn to direct people at the Capitol.
“Listen, if somebody doesn’t help and direct people, then do more people die?” she said at the time when asked about her conduct that day. “That’s all I’m going to say about that. I can’t say anymore. I need to talk to an attorney.”
More than 1,185 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states in connection to the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol. About 410 people were charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement in the ongoing investigation.