Bucks Co Man Assaulted Officer In Capitol Riot, FBI Says (ICYMI)

BRISTOL, PA — A Bucks County man has been arrested on charges claiming he assaulted a police officer during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Ryan Stephen Samsel, 37, of Bristol Borough, was arrested on Saturday, according to the FBI. In federal court documents unsealed Monday, 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 five deaths and hundreds of injuries, thousands of people marched on the Capitol after a rally with Trump and others near the White House.

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.

After identifying Samsel in videos, the FBI ran a criminal history check and found that he was on parole in Pennsylvania and wanted by police in Riverside, N.J. on an assault charge. Last Tuesday, a federal judge issued a search warrant for a cellphone associated with Samsel.

Data from the phone indicated that Samsel had traveled from Levittown to Washington, D.C., then back to the Philadelphia area, on Jan. 6, according to the FBI.

In the complaint, the FBI agent says Samsel broke laws against assaulting a federal agent, obstructing law enforcement protecting government business and obstructing government proceedings.
According to federal prison records, Samsel was being held Monday at the federal detention center in Philadelphia.

Samsel is the latest Pennsylvania resident to be charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. A Bucks County gym owner also is among the dozens of Pennsylvanians charged for their roles in the attack.

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