"Bullhorn Lady"/"Pink Hat Lady" identified

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Ronan Farrow
@RonanFarrow
NEW: “Bullhorn Lady,” one of the FBI's most wanted after she battered windows and issued orders at the capitol, is Rachel Powell, a mother of eight from rural PA. Her path to radicalization, and what it reveals about extremism in America:

A Pennsylvania Mother’s Path to Insurrection
How claims from Rudy Giuliani and Alex Jones spurred a parent of eight to become one of the Capitol riot’s biggest mysteries and a fugitive from the F.B.I.
newyorker.com
7:10 PM · Feb 1, 2021

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-pennsylvania-mothers-path-to-insurrection-capitol-riot

[servermsh]

1. Excellent! n/t

[SMC22307]

2. Whoa... finally!

Nail her.

[TwilightZone]

3. Is that the same woman some were claiming was Boebert's mom?

Guess that nonsense can officially die now.

[SMC22307]

23. Yes. (n/t)

[kcr]

61. I thought it was ridiculous

The two look nothing alike.

[cwydro]

73. Same here. Their accents were completely different too. Wonder where the super-sleuths are now?

Perhaps "identifying" other perpetrators.

I'm glad this woman was identified, and I hope she'll be in custody asap.

[TwilightZone]

78. Not to mention that the FBI would have known if it was her mom or not.

That should have been the first blatant clue that it wasn't her mom. I suspect they checked before they put out the posters.

[denbot]

4. She can enjoy her grand baby's pictures via the prison mail system.

As long as she behaves, her mail privileges won’t be revoked.. FREEDUMB!!!

[Lars39]

5. 8 kids? Dang

Well, that explains her seditious take charge attitude.

[theneworiginal]

76. More proof that the Darwin theory isn't perfect.

Nutjobs like this shouldn't be procreating.

[panader0]

79. A "quiver full".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiverfull

[Lars39]

81. Yes

I feel so sorry for those children.

[Takket]

6. a lot of people thought she was Boebert's mom........

looked a bit alike, but as we now know for sure, not the same........

regardless this woman was one of the ringleaders and inciting others to violence. she should be locked up for a long time.

8 kids *sigh*. hope her husband has a brain. maybe the kids will have a chance of growing up right.

[SMC22307]

42. Evidently, she's been separated from her husband for a couple of years.

Eight kids ranging in age from four to mid-20s. She sold cheese and yogurt (?) at farmers' markets but was booted b/c she refused to abide by pandemic rules. Got a PT job at a bookstore. Just a hunch, but I'm guessing she's feeding at the public assistance trough all the while claiming to be "libertarian."

[SMC22307]

28. No, originally from California. Moved to western PA with her mother and stepfather. (n/t)

[SMC22307]

39. Yes, but originally from California. There's no need to argue that point.

Plenty of loons from CA and PA took part that day.

[SMC22307]

45. She said she's from "the really bad side of Fresno." It's possible she's gone through life...

with a major chip on her shoulder. Her mother made a very good point about the carjacking -- Pink Hat should have been more empathetic toward the people inside the Capitol.

[SMC22307]

51. Seriously, I'm from a defunct PA steel town but can't say I've ever stormed the gub'mint. (n/t)

[cannabis_flower]

64. Don't forget!

There were Texas loons there too!

[SMC22307]

83. LOL, some whoppers too! Zip-tie guy #1, Oath Keepers, the entitled florist, the entitled realtor...

[Buckeye_Democrat]

9. Fantastic!

I was one of the posters who spotted various similarities to Q*bert's mother, but I was never certain. Plus some later pics definitely didn't seem to match well.

I'm mostly happy that nutcase was caught!

[enough]

18. She hasn't been caught, just identified. NT

[Buckeye_Democrat]

19. Thanks!

I posted that before reading through the article.

[StClone]

10. Long and seemingly thorough New Yorker piece

Powell could have turned out differently. However, the voices she got through FB were those of deception which led her off a cliff of radicalization. Yes, it could happen to anybody, but does it really have to?

[PatSeg]

21. The article was very interesting

Powell certainly did not sound like the type of woman who would end up storming the Capitol. She didn't even vote for Trump in 2016.

Powell told me that she didn’t vote for him in his first run, and her social-media posts during that time include sharp criticism of him. “Trump makes me uncomfortable as a presidential candidate,” she wrote in a Facebook post that linked to a piece about Trump’s lack of civility. “What disturbs me is that so many people support this type of person.” She also told me that she took issue with his environmental policies.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-pennsylvania-mothers-path-to-insurrection-capitol-riot

The power of the brainwashing that occurred in the last few years is extremely disturbing. I am sure there are many more stories such as hers. I wonder at what point did her brain shift gears and what could have made a difference?

[PaulnFortWorth]

71. Brainwashing Is Money! Companies make money from manipulating

our actions and perceptions.

is about a doctor with two daughters and how he sees "The Social Dilemma" as affecting people.
Excellent and well thought out.

[PatSeg]

74. Thanks

I haven't watched The Social Dilemma yet. Just realized I have it in my list.

Welcome to DU!

[lame54]

11. OctoTraitor

[Nevilledog]

14. Perfect!

[dalton99a]

16. +1

[SMC22307]

32. LOL, perfect. (n/t)

[Celerity]

52. +10000000000000000

[nam78_two]

53. ..

[dchill]

57. OMG! Noble Prizeworthy!

[Sogo]

60. You win the thread!

[sop]

12. All these Capitol terrorists must be really terrified every time they hear a knock on the door.

Not knowing which one of their friends or family dropped a dime on them must be causing sleepless nights.

[SMC22307]

35. Yeah, that's still the mystery. She's quite slippery in the article. (n/t)

[KewlKat]

68. She said I've been in their with the Jimmie

I believe Jimmie is a tool? And that she broke in there earlier using the Jimmie and therefore knew the layout.

[dalton99a]

15. "On July 4th, she drove for four hours to join members of several far-right groups"

Those political views began to have various impacts on her life after the pandemic hit. Paula Keswick, who co-owns a local creamery that sold Powell cheese and yogurt, said that Powell was barred from working at some events after she refused to obey pandemic restrictions. “She was just adamant she was not going to wear a mask,” Keswick said. (Powell said that she now works part time at a local bookstore.) Last summer and fall, Powell said, she attended various protests, including anti-mask rallies. “If there was a protest in Harrisburg, I was there for almost all of them,” she told me. On July 4th, she drove for four hours to join members of several far-right groups, some of them armed, who gathered at the Gettysburg National Military Park, purportedly to protect Civil War monuments from desecration. At the rally, a man wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt was surrounded and aggressively questioned by about fifty demonstrators. In a video posted online, Powell is among the group, holding an iPhone with the same Kate Spade Hollyhock Floral case that she was later photographed carrying at the Capitol. Powell also told me that she attended rallies in Washington, D.C., on dates she could not recall, including one attended by members of the far-right group the Proud Boys, where Alex Jones, who has falsely alleged that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was faked, spoke. (Powell said that Jones is not her “favorite person,” but that she considers him to be “another journalist to listen to—he has interesting things to say.”) She told me that she did not share the racist views espoused by some on the far right. (In 2013, she tweeted, “what’s up, my niggas?” Powell defended the use of the N-word, saying, “My favorite book is ‘Gone with the Wind,’ and it uses that term freely.”)

Last November, Powell voted for Trump. “It was a little bit of a hard decision for me, and I didn’t make that decision to vote for him till two months before the election,” she said. “I appreciate his business mind. Economy-wise, he has it going on. He loves America.” Ultimately, she concluded, she “couldn’t vote for the other person. I really don’t think Biden or Harris will be good for the country.”

Concerns about mask requirements, which she called a “liberty issue,” were instrumental in her decision. She claimed that the risks of the coronavirus had been overstated by public-health officials, saying that she had not seen many deaths in her county. On November 5th, 2020, she wrote in a Facebook comment directed at a friend, “I won’t get a vaccine either. I hear what you’re saying about the whole world being in on the conspiracy as far as the corona virus goes.” On December 27th, she posted, “I’m unashamedly a ‘super spreader,’ ” attaching photographs of crowded, mask-free holiday and birthday parties. That day, she uploaded a video of a large maskless meal, during which several children said, “No masks,” and Powell could be heard saying, “The masks are total bullcrap. You guys just need to get out there and live. Get arrested—it’s fine.”

[Sogo]

58. She should lose her kids....

and probably will at the rate she's going.

[theneworiginal]

77. They will have to deprogram them

[tanyev]

43. Jeez, what is it about mask wearing that sends some people over the edge?

Such a simple and effective thing to do.

[GeoWilliam750]

84. Social hierarchy issues

In some senses, to accept being told what to do implies acceptance of an inferior social status.

To refuse to accept being told what to do asserts a superior social status.


Perhaps the Democratic party should project something like:

"The United States Marine Corps has a rigorous anti-covid policy which is highly effective at controlling the virus while having a minimal impact on readiness. I cannot understand why the Republican supporters of Trump and other anti-maskers think that US Marines are stupid, brainwashed, robotic, sycophantic morons. However, they are free to call Marines, "stupid sycophants" to their faces, but I pity the fools who would do so."

Also, perhaps something like, "I have never understood why Republicans so hate the military, and insult them at every opportunity."

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/16/us/virus-military.html

[tanyev]

85. Too bad there was no way for Dems to publicly demand people not wear masks,

with a nudge nudge wink wink to tip off sane and sensible people that they were using reverse psychology. You know if Pelosi had said nobody other than essential workers was allowed to wear masks the MAGAs would have instantly started wearing them.

[panader0]

82. "Economy-wise he has it going on" Hey Powell, what about this:??

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215041501

[TwilightZone]

17. The ignorance and lack of self-awareness in these people is remarkable.

"She told me that she did not share the racist views espoused by some on the far right. (In 2013, she tweeted, “what’s up, my niggas?” Powell defended the use of the N-word, saying, “My favorite book is ‘Gone with the Wind,’ and it uses that term freely.”)"

One of these things is not like the other. It's 1) fiction, and 2) set in the 1860s.

"Powell could be heard saying, “The masks are total bullcrap. You guys just need to get out there and live. Get arrested—it’s fine.”"

Happy to hear you say that. Enjoy prison.

[Orangepeel]

30. Also, Gone with the Wind is racist AF

[Talitha]

65. No kidding - I found that out when I finally read it 5 years ago - I'm 68.

IMO it's a good thing the author never wrote another novel.

[ShazzieB]

63. There are no words.

Powell defended the use of the N-word, saying, “My favorite book is ‘Gone with the Wind,’ and it uses that term freely.”

[FreepFryer]

20. Did I miss Farrow explaining how she knew the interior layout so well?

She gave very specific instructions based on experience.

[TwilightZone]

22. It's in the article.

"In yet another video, she stands outside a broken window, shouting instructions through the bullhorn to rioters inside. Powell says, “I’ve been in the other room,” and appears to outline a plan involving breaking a pane of glass to get into another part of the Capitol. Powell said, regarding her knowledge of the building’s layout, “Anything that was said was figured out as time went on. It wasn’t like there was a map or anything.” "

[FreepFryer]

24. That explanation doesn't ring accurate to me. She describes aspects of a room she can't see (Nt)

Not making a case but my bs detector is clanging hard.

[TwilightZone]

27. She's clearly lying about several things in the interview.

She could certainly be lying about that. I'm actually surprised she agreed to it at all.

[FreepFryer]

29. Indeed. We may find out, Farrow is pretty solid, but not perfect.

"Hey guys, I've been in the other room..." she says into a bullhorn, then proceeds to deliver detailed instructions on how to take the building.

"In the other room on the other side of this door right here where you are standing, there is a glass that somebody, if it's broken, you can drop down into a room underneath it," she says, gesturing.

"There's also two doors in the other room. One in the rear, and one to the right as you go in."

"So people should probably coordinate together if you're going to take this building."

[greenjar_01]

26. Did she, though?

[FreepFryer]

34. Read quote above. Sounds like SHE thought she did. (Nt)

[greenjar_01]

25. I speculated elsewhere that she was from upper Midwest but moved somewhere else

Since she had the hint of a midwest vowel shift but it wasn't that pronounced. I mentioned Ohio and Western PA.

Turned out I had it backwards: she was from California but moved to Western PA in her teens. It has a similar effect on the accent. People who were saying she sounded like Boebert's mother (from Florida) were really hallucinating.

[Johnny2X2X]

31. Remarkable

Just a crazy story from normal person to terrorist. There are powerful forces of propaganda and mind manipulation going on here. This is not normal.

[babydollhead]

47. from wired magazine, children moving in unison, in their sleep

https://www.gq.com/story/cia-investigation-and-russian-microwave-attacks

[MarcATL]

38. Throw the book at her ass!

[orangecrush]

49. EDIT!!!

HOW IS SHE NOT IN CUSTODY?????????

[SheltieLover]

50. Ty!

K&R!

[mountain grammy]

54. She's lying her ass off.

[standingtall]

55. Why when these articles are written?

Why can't they just come out and say it? The reason right wing nuts believe all of this stuff is, because they were already inclined to believe it. The were already inclined to believe it, because they already held resentments against entire groups of people either consciously or sub-consciously. So they made a conscious decision to believe whatever negative is sad about people they already didn't like to begin with no matter how outlandish or atrocious. Why we just can't tell it like it is? It the truth. Instead of trying to portray these people as victims who just got suckered in.

[FSogol]

80. +1 n/t

[thenelm1]

56. She listened and believed Rudy Giuliani and Alex Jones?

She apparently lost touch with reality too. Good Lord. Two of the most cray, cray of the cray, cray.

[PatrickforO]

59. In spite of the pathos in this story, my inclination is to charge her for these actions, give her a

fair trial, and then imprison her for an appropriate sentence.

We can blame, blame, blame - social media, 'influencers' and so on, but the reality is that she made the decision to go to DC, she made the decision to storm the Capitol, she made the decision to use the battering ram, and whatever else she ended up doing there.

She is guilty of domestic terrorism, and quite possibly conspiracy.

[dalton99a]

62. Perhaps she could get a GED in prison and run for Congress when she gets out

[Cha]

66. Rachel Powell defended the use of N word by..

Link to tweet

Stupid calibre of a trump cult domestic Terrorist!

[Talitha]

67. Whatever happens, I'm just glad they got this nutty whack-a-doodle!

[Catherine Vincent]

69. Mother of 8?

Damn.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

72. I know, right?

How did she have the time?

[PatSeg]

75. And the youngest is only four

What is going to happen to those kids if their mother goes to jail? Apparently that possibility never dawned on her.