Man convicted of attacking police in Tipping Point on January 6

A Pennsylvania hairdresser whose violent attacks on police on Jan. 6, 2021, were widely seen as the tipping point in the storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob was convicted on federal charges on Friday.

The barber, Ryan Samsel, was one of the first people to confront police on Jan. 6 and breached barricades at what is known as the Peace Circle, allowing hundreds of others behind him to breach the Capitol grounds and eventually the building. yourself. Prosecutors at a trial against Mr. Samsel and four co-defendants, who were also convicted of assault and other charges, said the men's actions “ignited a fire that burned in the Capitol for more than four hours.”

The guilty verdicts, handed down by the judge after a trial in Federal District Court in Washington, were the latest reminder that the prosecutions of those who took part in the storming of the Capitol continue even more than three years after the attack. This week alone, charges against at least nine additional defendants were unveiled, bringing the total number of suspects in connection with the attack on the Capitol to more than 1,260.

The attack on the building was also at the center of the 2024 presidential campaign, when former President Donald J. Trump spotlighted those who took part, calling them “hostages” and “political prisoners.” As he has often done with potential political liabilities, Trump has attempted to flip the script on the attack on the Capitol and turn it to his electoral advantage through a campaign of sustained disinformation, built around the claim that the Department of Justice prosecutes him and his supporters. .

Last week, a federal judge in Washington appointed by President Ronald Reagan denounced such efforts to rewrite Jan. 6 history, calling them “shameless,” “ridiculous” and potentially a “danger to our country.”

“In my 37 years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such worthless justifications of criminal activity have become mainstream,” Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote. “I have been appalled to see distortions and outright falsehoods seep into the public consciousness.”

Mr. Samsel, who was arrested in January 2021, became a well-known figure in the attack on the Capitol after photos and videos emerged of him speaking with Joseph Biggs, a leader of the far-right group the Proud Boys, moments before he approached police . barricades and began confronting the officers behind them.

Videos also showed that Mr. Just before he began attacking police, Samsel was approached by Ray Epps, an Arizona man falsely accused by right-wing pundits and politicians of being an undercover agent who incited the riot as a way to discredit the riot to bring. Mr. Trump's supporters.

While Judge Jia M. Cobb, who presided over the trial, found all defendants guilty of at least some crimes, including obstructing the final certification of the 2020 election, she also acquitted them of federal charges.

Judge Cobb ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove, as the law requires, that the men knowingly got too close to a person protected by the Secret Service — in this case, Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the Capitol on January 6. oversee election certification.

The government has charged hundreds of people with violating the trespass law. But Judge Cobb joined two other Washington judges who recently threw out the indictment in what could spell trouble for the law's use in connection with Jan. 6 riot cases.