Bucks Capitol Riot Suspect Beaten In Jail, Lawyer Claims

BRISTOL BOROUGH, PA — The attorney for a Bucks County man accused of assault in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol says his client was beaten by guards at a D.C. jail last month.

Steven Metcalf told the Washington Post that Ryan Samsel, 37, of Bristol Borough, got a broken nose and dislocated jaw in the beating and has since suffered seizures. The D.C. Department of Corrections told the Post it is aware of the claims and is investigating.

The attorney told the Post that Samsel claims the attack happened on March 20, after he complained that guards had taken too long to bring him toilet paper.

Samsel was arrested in February. In federal court documents, an FBI agent claims Samsel was one of the people in a widely shared video in which supporters of former President Donald Trump fight officers over a barricade outside the Capitol.

Inside, members of Congress were confirming President Joe Biden's victory over Trump. In violence that would result in several deaths and hundreds of injuries, thousands of people marched on the Capitol after a rally with Trump and others near the White House.

Samsel has been in jail since his arrest.

The charging document claims Samsel was part of a crowd that, at about 12:50 p.m., walked past a fence line outside the Capitol and approached a second barricade manned by U.S. Capitol Police. Video shows Samsel confronting an officer and then, along with others, pushing and pulling on the barricades, according to the FBI.

He can be seen removing his jacket and turning around what appears to be a red "Make America Great Again" cap "in a manner that appears as if Samsel was preparing for a physical altercation," the documents say.

Samsel and the others pushed and pulled until they pushed the barricades down on top of the officers, the FBI says. Doing so, they knocked down one officer into the stairs behind her, knocking her out, the agent writes.

He says Samsel then picked up the officer and said "We don't have to hurt you. Why are you standing in our way?" Other Capitol Police officers quickly took her away from Samsel and told her to go regroup with other officers. Hours later, according to the FBI, the woman blacked out and collapsed while arresting another rioter.

She was taken to the emergency room of a local hospital, where she was diagnosed with a concussion.

After that initial confrontation, Samsel again confronted Capitol Police officers, this time on the west terrace of the Capitol building, the FBI claims. While there, Samsel tried to pull a riot shield away from an officer, according to the charges.