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Ryan Samsel
Born
Ryan Stephen Samsel

1983/1984 (age 40–41)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBarber
Known forparticipation in the January 6 United States Capitol attack

Ryan Stephen Samsel (born 1983/1984 (age 40–41)) is an American convicted criminal who participated in the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[1][2] He was charged with several crimes, including forcibly assaulting federal officers; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; carrying out an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds; and obstruction of an official proceeding—the United States Congress’s efforts to certify the election results. Samsel has been in custody since his arrest; his bench trial began in October 2023. In February 2024, he was found guilty.[3]

Background

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Samsel is a barber from Bristol, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.[1] He is a Donald Trump supporter.[4][5][6] He lives with his aunt and uncle.[2]

Samsel has a history of violent behavior, largely against women.[7][8]

In 2006 Samsel allegedly attempted to pull a woman off the road in his car because she owed him $60, punched her windshield, and threatened to kill her.[7][9] In 2007, he reportedly entered a man’s car, and hit him repeatedly in the face, leaving him missing teeth and bloodied.[9]

In 2009, Samsel was convicted of simple assault and reckless endangerment after he held a woman against her will for five hours, choked her until she was unconscious, beating her, and chipped her teeth.[9] Samsel was convicted in 2011 of simple assault, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, and unlawful restraint for choking and attacking his pregnant girlfriend, smashing a hot pizza in her face, beating her, pouring a beer over her head, throwing her into a canal, and holding her head under.[9] In 2015, Samsel was again convicted of simple assault for choking a woman until she was unconscious and hitting her so hard that she suffered a hematoma.[9] In 2019 another woman alleged that Samsel broke into her house violating a restraining order, choked her until she was unconscious, assaulted her, and raped her multiple times.[9][10][11][12]

As of January 2021 Samsel had a 2019 assault-related arrest warrant out from Riverside, New Jersey, and was on state parole in Pennsylvania.[13][2]

January 6 riot

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Samsel breaching the Capitol Grounds on January 6, 2021

On January 6, 2021, Samsel went to the United States Capitol, where a joint session of the United States Congress was certifying the vote of the Electoral College and affirming Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.[8][9][14][2] He went with his girlfriend Raechel Genco, a Bristol Township woman, who was also later charged by federal authorities.[8][9][14][2]

Samsel, wearing a MAGA hat, had a private conversation outside the Capitol with Joseph Biggs, a top lieutenant in the far-right group the Proud Boys, as they put their arms around each other.[15][16][7][17] Samsel later told FBI investigators that Biggs had pulled him aside and encouraged him to push the barricades, and challenge and confront the Capitol police.[7][4][18] After his conversation with Biggs, at 12:53 p.m. Samsel walked to the front of the crowd while turning his hat backward and removing his jacket.[15][2] He walked alone past the protesters directly towards the police barricades, approached a metal barricade at the Peace Circle on the west side of the Capitol and shoved it aggressively, and confronted the police working to secure the Capitol, resulting in the first breach of the Capitol’s security perimeter.[16][7][19][20][17][21] The New York Times called the moment "the tipping point of the riot."[22] As others joined him, the barricade fell, a police officer was knocked down, and the riot followed.[7][18] Within seconds dozens of other protesters, including many Proud Boys, followed Samsel and overran the police line, overpowering the police, and stormed towards the U.S. Capitol Building.[16][4][6][15]

Videotape showed Samsel attacking Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards.[19] Edwards later testified to a House of Representatives committee that Samsel pushed a barricade over in a struggle, knocking her down and causing her to hit her head, lose consciousness, and suffer a concussion and a brain injury.[2][20][5][1] Samsel allegedly picked her up and said: "We don’t have to hurt you. Why are you standing in our way?"[1][23] She was rescued by her fellow police officers.[9]

Samsel was also accused of confronting other officers, and attempting to steal a riot shield from an officer.[1][2]

Arrest, charges, and trial

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Samsel was arrested on January 20, 2021, in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, by a task force made up of FBI agents and local police.[2][9][7] He was charged with several crimes, including forcibly assaulting federal officers; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; carrying out an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds; and obstruction of an official proceeding—Congress’s certification of the election results.[7][1]

In May 2022, Samsel was moved from a federal prison in central Pennsylvania to the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] He has been in custody awaiting trial since his arrest.[1]

While in custody, Samsel allegedly sent a letter that said: "all these poltions [sic] in office need to go, A woodchiper [sic] sounds good’ and ‘I’ll tell people get your wepon’s [sic] Ready Kiss your Kidd’s [sic] good-bye and let’s F***ing go!"[1] He also allegedly made phone calls from prison in which he made statements about "stabbing or punching FBI agents."[1]

Samsel is represented by lawyer Stanley Woodward.[24][25] His bench trial began in October 2023 before U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Jia Cobb.[26] He was found guilty in February 2024.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sofield, Tom (June 15, 2022). "Bristol Man In Custody Made Threatening Statements, Feds Say". LevittownNow.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sofield, Tom (February 1, 2021). "Bristol Man Arrested By FBI For Allegedly Attacking Police Officers During Insurrection". LevittownNow.com.
  3. ^ a b "District of Columbia | Five Men Found Guilty of Multiple Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions Related to Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2024-02-02. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  4. ^ a b c Broadwater, Luke (June 9, 2022). "Jan. 6 Hearings: In First Jan. 6 Hearing, Graphic Footage and Stark Testimony Show Depth of Attack". The New York Times.
  5. ^ a b Barbaro, Michael; Szypko, Rob; Zadie, Mooj; Nguyen, Diana; Johnson, Michael Simon; Quester, Rachel; Chow, Lisa; Lozano, Marion; Powell, Dan; Wood, Chris (June 9, 2022). "The Proud Boys' Path to Jan. 6". The New York Times.
  6. ^ a b Khavin, Dmitriy; Willis, Haley; Hill, Evan; Reneau, Natalie; Jordan, Drew; Engelbrecht, Cora; Triebert, Christiaan; Cooper, Stella; Browne, Malachy; Botti, David (June 30, 2021). "Video: Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol". The New York Times.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Feuer, Alan (October 7, 2021). "Dispute Over Claim That Proud Boys Leader Urged Attack at Capitol". The New York Times.
  8. ^ a b c Sofield, Tom (August 6, 2021). "Insurrection Defendant From Bristol In Prison Lockdown". LevittownNow.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sofield, Tom (June 2, 2021). "Feds: Bristol Man Arrested In Capitol Attack Has 'Extensive History' Of Violence". LevittownNow.
  10. ^ Owen, Tess (June 3, 2021). "This Accused Capitol Rioter Beat His Pregnant Girlfriend and Threw Her Into a Canal". Vice.
  11. ^ Roebuck, Jeremy (June 4, 2021). "Accused Bucks Capitol rioter once assaulted an ex with pizza and tried to drown her, feds say in bid to keep him locked up". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  12. ^ Katie Shepherd (June 3, 2021). "Capitol riot defendant once brutally attacked pregnant girlfriend: ‘I was afraid he was going to kill me’", The Washington Post.
  13. ^ Bergmueller, Jonathan (June 14, 2022). "Pa. Capitol riot suspect pens letter from jail saying politicians 'need to go,' a woodchipper 'sounds good'". pennlive.
  14. ^ a b Sofield, Tom (February 25, 2021). "Bristol Twp. Woman Charged As Part Of Capitol Insurrection Investigation". LevittownNow.com.
  15. ^ a b c David Remnick, Jamie Raskin (2022). The January 6th Report By Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Celadon Books.
  16. ^ a b c Terry Gross (2022). "Did the Trump camp help far-right militia groups plan the Jan. 6 attack?," NPR.
  17. ^ a b Feuer, Alan; Montague, Zach (August 31, 2023). "Proud Boys Lieutenant Sentenced to 17 Years in Jan. 6 Sedition Case". The New York Times.
  18. ^ a b Feuer, Alan (January 13, 2023). "Who Are the Proud Boys on Trial for Seditious Conspiracy?". The New York Times.
  19. ^ a b Feuer, Alan; Goldman, Adam; Broadwater, Luke (June 6, 2022). "Proud Boys Charged With Sedition in Capitol Attack". The New York Times.
  20. ^ a b Feuer, Alan (June 10, 2022). "Three Characters at the Heart of an Unsettling Jan. 6 Narrative". The New York Times.
  21. ^ Feuer, Alan (July 13, 2022). "A Trump Backer's Downfall as the Target of a Jan. 6 Conspiracy Theory". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Feuer, Alan (May 5, 2022). "New Evidence Undercuts Jan. 6 Instigator Conspiracy Theory". The New York Times.
  23. ^ Melendez, Pilar (June 2, 2021). "Rioter Who Gave Capitol Cop a Concussion Has Horrific History of Beating Women: Feds". The Daily Beast.
  24. ^ Naham, Matt (June 14, 2023). "These are the lawyers tasked with saving Trump from centuries of prison time in special counsel's Mar-a-Lago case". Law & Crime.
  25. ^ Cheney, Kyle (November 30, 2022). "Meet the legal nerd who MAGA bigwigs are turning to for help". POLITICO.
  26. ^ Sofield, Tom (October 24, 2023). "Bristol Man, Central Figure In U.S. Capitol Attack, Faces Trial". LevittownNow.com.


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