Ryan Samsel (via FBI court filing).
The Department of Justice has proposed a 20-year prison sentence for Pennsylvania Proud Boys member Ryan Samsel, who helped lead the charge against police officers during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and was the first rioter to breach its perimeter.
“A sentence of 240 months of incarceration reflects the gravity of Samsel’s conduct and provides sufficient deterrence given Samsel’s continued lack of remorse, active and public rehashing of false narratives, violent criminal history, and interest in assaulting the Capitol again,” DOJ prosecutors wrote in a Jan. 19 sentencing memorandum.
Samsel, memorable for wearing a backward MAGA hat during his assault, was convicted in February 2024 of felonies and misdemeanors in connection with the 2021 riot but acquitted of trespassing charges. Samsel and co-defendants James Grant, Paul Johnson, Steven Randolph and Jason Blythe were all convicted of felony civil disorder and assault on police with a dangerous weapon, as well as an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings. 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, Samsel is seen wrapping his arms around an officer who was then thrown to the ground, hitting her head on a concrete step and suffering a concussion.
The assault was said to have preceded “hours and hours of hand-to-hand combat,” Officer Caroline Edwards, the victim, said in her June 9 testimony before the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Samsel was the first rioter to breach the restricted perimeter,” DOJ prosecutors said in the Jan. 19 memorandum. “He unilaterally opened a section of fencing at the curb of the Peace Circle — the first barricade separating crowds from the restricted U.S. Capitol grounds — and walked onto the restricted Capitol grounds, paving the way for thousands of other rioters to follow him. Samsel then made his way to a second barrier guarded by U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers. He verbally abused officers, and then joined his co-defendant Stephen Randolph (Randolph) in forcibly pushing and pulling on this second barrier — a linked metal, bike-rack barricade. Samsel then participated in the first violent assault of officers defending the Capitol building that day.”
Describing the assault on Edwards, prosecutors stated that Samsel and the others lifted the metal barricade above officers’ faces and pushed it into the line of cops as they stood in front of them. “Samsel and Randolph struck Officer C.E. in the face with their section of the metal barricade with such force that they caused her to stumble backward and hit her head twice — first on a metal handrail and then again on the steps behind her,” the sentencing memorandum said.
Samsel is described by DOJ prosecutors as one of the more violent rioters from Jan. 6.
During the attack, Samsel was allegedly ordered by Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs to breach the restricted Capitol perimeter. Biggs himself was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his participation in the attack. Prosecutors said Biggs and Samsel spoke briefly before Samsel moved forward with the assault on Edwards and other officers; Samsel has denied that such an exchange ever occurred.
Samsel was 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, as were the other defendants. He’s been detained since his arrest in 2021.
During that time, Samsel has filed 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.
Samsel has also been very vocal while locked up, according to the DOJ memorandum. Prosecutors say he’s been sending out letters, conducting interviews and making phone calls to people during which he’s made “countless statements, which reflect his continued support for and advocacy of violence, even after he was incarcerated for his actions,” per the memorandum.
“In a June, 2022 letter from jail, Samsel wrote: ‘Our country is dying do [sic] to lies, greed, power. All these poltions [sic] in office need to go. A woodchiper [sic] sounds good,”” prosecutors said Sunday. “Samsel was proud of his actions on that day, taking the time to record a selfie video during the riot and announce with a smile that he had breached the Capitol. Samsel was still proud of his actions years later when he told an interviewer that his actions on January 6th were justified, because ‘sometimes civil disorder is needed.’”
Samsel is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Joe Biden appointee, on Feb. 14.
Marisa Sarnoff contributed to this report.
