By Keith Heffintrayer
Credit: FBI
The lawyer for a Bristol Borough man who stands accused of attacking police during the riot earlier this year at the U.S. Capitol claims that her client was “savagely” beaten by a corrections officer while in custody at a federal detention center in Washington D.C.
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In late January, 37-year-old Ryan Stephen Samsel, of Bristol Borough, was arrested by federal agents and charged with forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, or interfering with a federal agent while they were engaged in their official duties; committed or attempted to commit any act to obstruct, impede, or interfere with any fireman or law enforcement officer lawfully engaged in the lawful performance of official duties; and obstructed, influenced, or impeded any official proceeding or attempted to do so, in connection with his alleged actions during the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Investigators said that Samsel and others knocked a female U.S. Capitol Police officer to the ground, causing her to strike her head on concrete stairs and lose consciousness. Later, investigators said Samsel picked up the injured officer and reportedly said: “We don’t have to hurt you. Why are you standing in our way?”
Samsel’s attorney, Elisabeth Pasqualini, told PennLive on Tuesday that her client was “viciously and savagely beaten” by a corrections officer during the morning of March 21, adding there was an ongoing FBI investigation into the incident. Pasqualini added that the assault occurred while Samsel’s hands were secured behind his back with zip ties, according to the report.
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As a result of the attack, Samsel reportedly suffered serious injuries to his face and head, including a shattered orbital floor, a broken nose, a dislocated jaw and more, the report states. Pasqualini said in the report she believes that Samsel may have permanent vision loss in his right eye, and he has lost feeling in the left side of his face.
Efforts by LevittownNow.com to secure comment from Pasqualini were unsuccessful.
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“For anyone inclined to think as a charged ‘Capitol rioter,’ Mr. Samsel got what he deserved, I say get down from your mountaintop, the hypocrisy in that air is distorting your vision,” Pasqualini said, in the PennLive report. “Either we live in a democracy that believes in due process and equal justice before the law or we do not. Correctional officers cannot be judge, jury, and executioners.”
Samsel was one of several Bucks County residents to be arrested and charged in connection with the Capitol riots.
As reported by LevittownNow.com in January, special agents with the FBI were seen making multiple visits to residences in Bucks County in the weeks that followed the violent insurrection. Later that month, a former Levittown resident who had moved to Doylestown Borough — identified as Dawn Bancroft — along with Diana Santos-Smith were charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, knowingly engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in any restricted building or grounds, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on U.S. Capitol grounds, according to a criminal complaint filed on Jan. 28 by federal authorities.
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In February, 38-year-old Raechel Genco, of Bristol Township’s Levittown section, was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, after court documents that were filed on Feb. 12 were later unsealed. Genco is alleged to have traveled down to Washington D.C. with Samsel.
In total, four Bucks County residents have been arrested in connection with the Capitol riots, placing the county in a tie for having the highest number of arrestees in the country that were connected to the riots.
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