A federal judge is demanding that a Pennsylvania woman arrested for her alleged role in the Capitol riot, Rachel Powell, explain why a video of her circulating online shows her wearing a porous, mesh mask despite another judge’s order to comply with Covid mask requirements while she awaits trial.
U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said Powell’s decision to wear the obviously noncompliant mask “mocks” the initial requirement decreed by the court’s chief judge, Beryl Howell, soon after Powell’s release in February.
“Defendant must wear a mask whenever she leaves her residence,” Howell ruled at the time.
Lamberth said the video appeared to reflect intentional defiance of the court. “The court does not take the defendant’s willingness to flout the court’s order lightly,” he wrote.
In the video, posted to the Facebook page of a western Pennsylvania used book store where Powell works, she and a colleague appear to be announcing the winner of a store raffle. Powell is wearing a white mesh mask that would seem to offer little protection to the wearer or others.
Article submitted by, Adamas.
