‘Pink Hat Lady’ seeks dismissal of one count from Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection
A Mercer County woman is asking a judge to dismiss one of the eight federal charges she is facing for her alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington, D.C.
Dubbed the “pink hat lady” for the brightly colored hat she wore when she allegedly tried to smash a window at the U.S. Capitol building, Rachel M. Powell, 41, of Sandy Lake filed a motion seeking dismissal of a charge of obstruction of an official proceeding.
Powell is among the hundreds of people, including 18 from Western Pennsylvania, who have been charged in the riot that was aimed at overturning former President Donald Trump’s reelection defeat to President Joe Biden by disrupting a joint session of Congress that was held to count electoral votes from the states and confirm the result of the election.
Powell, through her attorney Steve Kiersh, filed the motion last week before Judge Royce Lambreth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The indictment for the charge of obstruction of an official proceeding alleges Powell “corruptly obstructed, influenced and impeded an official proceeding” by entering and remaining in the Capitol without authority and engaging in disorderly and disruptive conduct and destroying federal property.
The law she is charged with violating prohibits altering, destroying or concealing a record, document or other object to impair its integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding, and obstructing, influencing or impeding official proceeding, according to the motion.
The motion argues that there is no evidence Powell violated any part of the law.
In addition, the motion argues that the law in question does not prohibit the obstruction of every governmental function. It only prohibits obstructing proceedings such as a hearing that takes place before a tribunal, and does not criminalize obstructing legislative action by Congress, according to the motion.
Powell was indicted after federal investigators collected a series of videos and images that allegedly show her smashing a window on the Capitol building with a wooden pole and instructing people using a bullhorn.
