Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania – The FBI broke into the house on Thursday of Rachel Powell, a single mother of eight children suspected of playing a role in the attack on the United States Capitol, reports CBS Pittsburgh. Agents broke into the house looking for any evidence to help build a case against Powell and any clues that might indicate where she may have gone.
Neighbors say Powell and some of the younger children have not been seen for a week or more and are apparently in hiding.
Until Thursday, the FBI declined to call Powell a suspect and is now offering only a short statement, indicating that the agency has obtained a search warrant for the home raid and is looking for it.
“We are conducting law enforcement activities authorized by the court at that location. We are looking for the whereabouts of Rachel Powell,” said the FBI.
Any arrest or escape warrant would be sealed and would not be released until Powell was located or surrendered. The strike, however, confirms the belief that Powell is the “megaphone lady,” says CBS Pittsburgh.
Powell can be seen clearly in videos carrying a battering ram to the Capitol during the January 6 assault.
She became known as “the megaphone lady” who seemed to have knowledge of the Capitol building’s floor plan. She was seen in a video instructing the rebels on where to go.
Powell is of particular concern to federal investigators because, if she had this knowledge, it could indicate that the attack was pre-planned.
But Powell denies it in an article in The New Yorker.
The FBI posted photos of her, seeking public help.
Neighbors were shocked by the operation and the reasons for it.
“It’s crazy. We are Republicans, but we would never do anything like that. Biden is the president now. Live with it. Get over it,” Teresa Chisholm told CBS Pittsburgh.