A Pennsylvania man was accused of attacking Capitol police during the January 6 uprising – and leaving a police officer with a concussion, according to court documents opened on Monday.
Ryan Samsel, 37, has been charged with several crimes, including assaulting a federal officer, obstructing law enforcement and obstructing a legal process, after he was caught in several videos and photographs participating in the Capitol riots. He was taken into custody on Saturday, a law source told the Daily Beast.
According to a criminal complaint filed on Monday, prosecutors allege that Samsel traveled on January 6 from Levittown, Pennsylvania, to Washington, DC, where he appeared in several videos going through a fence near the Capitol with at least one other hooligans. . As soon as Samsel approached the fence manned by several US Capitol officers, he “immediately became a confrontation” and “pushed and pulled” the barricade with other protesters until he fell on top of the police, officials said.
“Samsel finally removed his light blue jacket, revealing a long-sleeved shirt with a white hood under a black T-shirt, and turned the hat back in a way that looked as if Samsel was preparing for a physical altercation,” the complaint said.
In the process of tearing down the barricades, Samsel and the other protesters brought down a police officer, who fell and hit her head “on the stairs behind her, resulting in loss of consciousness”.
The complaint states that when Samsel lifted the officer off the ground, he said to her, “We don’t need to hurt you. Why are you on our way? “
Police officers immediately removed her from the area, placing her on the Capitol’s West Terrace with additional officers “for your safety.” However, a few hours later, while she was arresting another rowdy during the siege, the officer “passed out and passed out in the registration area and had to be transported to the emergency room of a local hospital, where she was assessed as having suffered a concussion. “
Prosecutors say that as the protesters approached the Capitol, Samsel was seen on video fighting another group of officers – and even tried to “pull a riot shield” from one of the uniformed men.
The complaint states that, after the disturbances, investigators were able to identify Samsel through his previous criminal charges. Samsel is currently on parole for a 2016 assault conviction in Pennsylvania and there is an arrest warrant in New Jersey for an alleged assault in 2019.
A North Carolina man was also charged on Monday after he allegedly filmed himself breaking into the Capitol on January 6. Stephen Maury Baker, 32, was arrested on Monday and accused of illegally entering a restricted building with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Hill for his role in the siege.
According to a criminal complaint, Baker broadcast live attacking Capitol on various social media platforms, including his YouTube channel called “Stephen Ignoramus”.
“That was so epic,” he said in one of the videos. “Historic day.”
After the riots, Baker deleted the videos, in which he referred to himself as “Stephen Ignoramus” several times, from his YouTube page.
The investigators, however, were able to obtain copies of the videos from various witnesses and the media. A witness told the FBI that Baker has two YouTube channels and was “alarmed by the content … including [the] advancement of conspiracy theories and mockery of minority groups. ”
One of its channels was banned by YouTube in December, according to the complaint. As previously reported by The Daily Beast, Baker is living in Washington, DC, and working as a “beloved” music teacher.
According to a co-worker, Baker started his YouTube channel that promoted racist and anti-Semitic content, as well as conspiracy theories, after he participated in a survival camp in the mountains of Virginia. The complaint indicates that Baker is familiar with several far-right militias, including the Oath Keepers.
Zachary Alam, who was filmed wearing a fur hat and breaking a window in the speaker’s lobby during the insurrection, was also charged. In court documents released on Monday, prosecutors say Alam could be seen breaking into the Capitol building in police images and “looked agitated as he walked down the hall towards the east staircase”.
Alam was also seen “trying to break down a barricaded door to the speaker’s lobby, a corridor that connects to the chambers of the House of Representatives”. The complaint notes that the chairs used to block the door from inside the speaker’s lobby were visible through the glass panels.
Videos showing Alam and a group of protesters trying to break into the speaker’s lobby also captured the shot of Ashli Babbit, an army veteran who was killed by a Capitol Police officer while climbing a broken window and trying to enter the Chamber of Deputies. . She was among the five people who died in the siege.
Prosecutors say that in the video, Alam is seen “repeatedly punching the glass panels on the doors immediately behind the police, causing the glass to shatter.” Alam then pushed his body against the policeman guarding the door, according to authorities.
The complaint states that Alam shouted, “Fuck the blue” several times to the police, then kicked the glass panels off the speaker’s lobby door.
“Shortly thereafter, he took a black helmet from an individual with a yellow ‘Don’t tread on me’ flag, took off his fur-lined hat and red baseball cap and hit the middle glass panel repeatedly with the helmet, shattering the window even more, ”says the complaint, adding that he“ then broke the window panel on the right with his helmet ”.
“Babbitt was shot while trying to climb one of the broken windows. After the shot, the [Alam] it retreated towards the stairs next to the US Capitol Police tactical unit, ”adds the complaint.
The complaint states that the FBI received several tips about Alam’s identity, including one from a family member.