Rachel Powell, a single mother of eight suspected of playing a role in the US Capitol attack, was taken into custody in Pennsylvania on Thursday night, federal authorities confirmed to CBS News on Friday. The FBI raided her home on Thursday seeking evidence to build a case against her, CBS Pittsburgh reports.
Neighbors say Powell and some of the younger kids haven’t been seen in a week or more.
Until Thursday, the FBI had refused to call Powell even a suspect and offered only a brief statement, which revealed that the agency had received a search warrant for the raid on the house and were looking for her.
“We are conducting court-authorized law enforcement activities at that location. We are looking for Rachel Powell’s whereabouts,” the FBI said.
Powell can be clearly seen in videos that brought a battering ram to the Capitol during the attack of January 6.
She has come to be known as “the bullhorn lady” who seemed to have knowledge of the map of the Capitol. She could be seen on video telling insurgents where to go.
Powell is of particular interest to federal detectives because if she had that knowledge, it could indicate that the attack was pre-planned.
But Powell denies it in a piece in The New Yorker magazine.
The FBI had posted photos of her and sought the help of the public.
Neighbors were shocked by the raid and the reasons for it.
‘It’s crazy. We are Republican, but we would never do something like that. Biden is currently president. Deal with it. Get over it, ”Teresa Chisholm remarked to CBS Pittsburgh.
Clare Hymes has reported.