1 Year Later: At Least 60 In PA Charged In Capitol Riots

PENNSYLVANIA — The reverberations of an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — in which a mob stormed the building and temporarily interfered with Congress’ certification of Joseph Biden as the next president — are still being felt around the country and close to home one year later.

At least 60 people from Pennsylvania were charged after the riot, and the commonwealth county of Bucks had the highest number of arrests nationwide. Of the more than 700 people facing charges in the insurrection, six were confirmed Bucks County residents.

Researchers have noted that, while some attendees who initially turned out for former President Trump's rally — which became a mob in which five people died — were tied to radical or extremist groups, many were, to borrow a phrase from The Atlantic, "more 'normal' Trump supporters": "middle-class and, in many cases, middle-aged people without obvious ties to the far right."

But extreme rhetoric — qualified as racist, transphobic, xenophobic, and more — has also proliferated throughout Pennsylvania communities in the past year, popping up at school board meetings and other places where it may not previously have been.

Some Pennsylvania residents charged in the riots have had particularly high-profile cases or incriminating evidence against them.

Ryan Stephen Samsel, 37, a Bristol resident, was accused of assaulting a Capitol police officer by pushing a barricade that knocked her to the ground, where she hit her head. She was later diagnosed with a concussion. He pleaded not guilty to several charges.

Prosecutors also found Samsel to have a prior history of violence, as documented in court filings.

"[The other convictions] show a pattern of Samsel choking and beating women to the point of loss of consciousness, of many hospital visits for many victims, of chipped and missing teeth, and of Samsel even breaking into one victim's home multiple times to assault her," a filing by federal prosecutors reads.

Another Pennsylvanian arrested, 22-year-old Riley June Williams of Harrisburg, was shown on television footage yelling “Upstairs, upstairs, upstairs” while directing people up a staircase toward House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, an NPR database reported.

Williams later wrote on a message board, "I TOOK HER GRAVEL HAMMWR TBING" and "I DOMT CARE I TOOK NANCY POLESIS HARD DRIVES I DONT CARE KILL ME," according to investigators.

She pleaded not guilty to numerous charges including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and theft of government property.

Charged Pennsylvania residents believed to have ties to extremist or fringe groups include Williams, Kelly O'Brien, Isaiah Giddings, Kenneth Grayson, Brian Healion, Matthew Perna, Zach Rehl, and Freedom Vy.

Zach Rehl is the president of the Philadelphia chapter of the far-right group the Proud Boys and is also a former Marine, according to the database.

A full list of Pennsylvania residents charged in connection with the riots can be found here.

As of Wednesday, just six of the at least 60 Pennsylvania residents charged in connection with the riots had been sentenced, according to PennLive.

Five people died before, during, or after the mob one year ago: Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, Air Force veteran and rioter Ashli Babbitt, rally attendee Kevin Greeson, aspiring substance-abuse counselor and rally attendee Rosanne Boyland, and rally attendee Benjamin Philips.

Federal law enforcement authorities have expressed concern that some could take Thursday's one-year anniversary as an opportunity to conduct violence against lawmakers, the government, or state and national capitols.

Related: Jan. 6 Insurrection Anniversary May Draw 'Threat Actors': Feds

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