Ryan Samsel, who has widely been seen as an instigator of the Jan. 6, 2021, violence at the Capitol grounds, was convicted Friday along with four co-defendants of multiple felonies in connection with the incidents, including the assault of Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who was knocked unconscious while guarding the barricades.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb issued her verdict three months after she presided over the bench trial of the five men, who also included James Grant, Stephen Randolph, Paul Johnson, and Jason Blythe, convicting them of being part of the "civil disorder" brought by the mob and of assaulting Edwards, one of the police officers at the front line, reports Politico.
In addition, Cobb announced the convictions of Samsel, Grant, and Randolph for obstructing congressional proceedings.
The Supreme Court is currently weighing the obstruction charges being filed against Jan. 6 defendants to determine if they should be used as a sweeping measure against them.
Samsel and the other defendants, who came to the Capitol before then-President Donald Trump had finished his speech to supporters down the street, knocked down the thinly guarded barricades, allowing thousands of protesters to flood the scene, overwhelm police lines, and make their path to the Capitol.
The five defendants are to be sentenced in June and could face several years in prison.
Cobb's verdict was mixed, however, as she rejected some of the charges that had been sought against each of the defendants, including trespassing and disorderly conduct, saying that the Justice Department did not prove that the defendants knew then-Vice President Mike Pence was inside the Capitol.
Judges in recent weeks have ruled that prosecutors must prove that the Jan. 6 defendants had to have been aware that a protectee of the Secret Service was present to convict them of trespassing charges.
Samsel, one of the first arrested after the Jan. 6 protests, has been behind bars since January 2021. In surveillance videos, he is shown approaching the police barricades shortly before 1 p.m. the day of the breach and speaking briefly with Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs just before charging the barricades.
The encounter was part of the seditious conspiracy trial involving Biggs and other Proud Boys leaders. Samsel had also spoken with Ray Epps, the protester who some claimed was a government agent.
Initially, Samsel told investigators that Biggs told him he had a gun and wanted him to attack the police and that Epps tried to calm him, but he later changed his version of the events.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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