Ryan Samsel (via FBI court filing).
The Pennsylvania Proud Boys member widely seen as the tip of the spear that first broke through a police barrier at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has been convicted of felonies and misdemeanors in connection with the riot but acquitted of trespassing charges.
In a mixed verdict handed down Friday, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb convicted Ryan Samsel and co-defendants James Grant, Paul Johnson, Steven Randolph, and Jason Blythe of civil disorder and assault on police with a dangerous weapon, both felonies, as well as an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, a misdemeanor, Washington, D.C., CBS affiliate WUSA reported. Samsel, Grant, and Johnson were additionally convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding, a 20-year felony, and misdemeanor disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds.
Only Samsel was convicted of additional counts of civil disorder and assaulting police, both with and without a dangerous weapon.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Samsel was accused of facing off against police officers over barriers at the Peace Circle on Jan. 6. During that confrontation, Officer Caroline Edwards was thrown to the ground, hitting her head on a concrete step and suffering a concussion.
That confrontation preceded “hours and hours of hand-to-hand combat,” Edwards said in her June 9 testimony before the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.
All the men were acquitted of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon.
Those acquittals reflect Cobb’s conclusion that a trespassing conviction under the circumstances requires defendants to know that a Secret Service protectee — such as then-Vice President Mike Pence — was present on Capitol grounds, Politico reported.
Samsel has been linked to another high-profile Jan. 6 defendant, Joseph R. Biggs, a member of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Biggs and Samsel allegedly spoke briefly before Samsel moved forward with the assault on Edwards and other officers; Samsel has denied that such an exchange ever occurred.
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack has said that the assault on police at the Peace Circle was the first of multiple breaches at the Capitol that day, and was the result of reconnaissance by the Proud Boys, looking for vulnerabilities in Capitol security.
Samsel, who has been detained since his arrest in January 2021, has made multiple complaints about what he says is a lack of effective — and necessary — medical treatment. According to medical records, Samsel suffers from several health problems, including blood clots causing circulation issues in his arms, and a condition called gynecomastia, or overdevelopment of breast tissue in men.
The verdict comes more than a month after the trial, which started in late October, and concluded in December.
It was not immediately clear when sentencing would be held.
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