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Rachel Marie Powell

Pardoned January 6 defendant

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Rachel Marie Powell is a Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania mother of eight who homeschooled her kids and built her own cleaning business after January 6. The press called her the Bullhorn Lady. The Pink Hat Lady. Here is the part almost nobody prints. She went to federal prison, came home, and built a business from nothing. THEIR ACCOUNT, Rachel Powell to WFMJ: "From learning to clean in a prison cell to building my own cleaning business today... life is wild." THEIR ACCOUNT: "People believe that because we were pardoned, that life has now gone back to normal, but it has not. I myself am not even close to what my old normal was, and likely never will be." THEIR ACCOUNT: "It's very unnatural not to have affection, and I learned the value of hugs and touch because of this year without it." FACT: She now speaks for the Patriot Freedom Project, advocating for other January 6 defendants and their families. THE MOTHER OF EIGHT FACT: Rachel Powell raised eight children and homeschooled them in Mercer County. Before January 6 she sold cheese at her local farmers market in western Pennsylvania, per The New Yorker as collected in NPR's January 6 archive. THE CASE FACT: In photos and video from January 6, 2021, she wore a pink hat and used a bullhorn, and charging documents say she gave detailed directions about the layout of the building. The government's case said she used a pipe, with another person's help, to break a window, then climbed through. THEIR ACCOUNT, to The New Yorker: "Listen, if somebody doesn't help and direct people, then do more people die? That's all I'm going to say about that." FACT: Arrested February 4, 2021. A judge found her guilty on all counts after a bench trial on July 18, 2023. Sentenced October 17, 2023, to 57 months, 36 months of supervised release, $2,753 in restitution and a $5,000 fine. She reported to FCI Hazelton on January 9, 2024. WHERE THINGS STAND: FACT: On October 28, 2024, the Court of Appeals vacated her obstruction conviction, one of the counts the Supreme Court's Fischer ruling narrowed nationwide. Resentencing was set and never finished. FACT: On January 20, 2025, President Trump's clemency proclamation covered the January 6 cases. The next day the court dismissed her case with prejudice, and she walked out of the D.C. jail after about a year behind bars. FACT: As of late 2025, Rachel Powell and her family were living in a camper while they looked for affordable housing in Mercer County, and she was building her cleaning business one account at a time. The clemency closed the case. It did not give back the years. SUPPORT: A GiveSendGo campaign was set up to help her after her sentencing. It is linked on this profile. CASE RECORD Name: Rachel Marie Powell, Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania Case No. 1:21-cr-179, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Arrested: February 4, 2021. Indicted: March 3, 2021 Bench trial verdict: July 18, 2023 Sentenced: October 17, 2023, to 57 months Obstruction count vacated on appeal: October 28, 2024 Case dismissed with prejudice: January 21, 2025 DOJ record: justice.gov/usao-dc/defendants/powell-rachel-marie This profile is unclaimed. If this is you, or your family, claiming it is free, forever.