PARDONED J6 PROTESTER FILES $18 MILLION DOLLAR FEDERAL LAWSUIT, ALLEGES HE WAS TORTURED IN JAIL
RYAN SAMSEL WAS THE FIRST TO BREACH POLICE DEFENSES OUTSIDE THE US CAPITAL ON JAN. 6, 2021. LAWSUIT ALLEGES HE WAS REPEATEDLY BEATEN BY GUARDS, SET UP BY GUARDS TO BE BEATEN BY INMATES AND DENIED TREATMENT DURING HELLISH, YEARS-LONG ODYSSEY THROUGH 7 JAILS
Ryan Samsel. Photo credit: unknown, via Facebook
MALONE, NEW YORK June 12, 2026
One of the first protesters to breach police barricades during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capital has filed a federal lawsuit alleging he was tortured in jail before and after his 2023-24 trial.
Samsel, now 42, alleges he was repeatedly beaten by jail guards, set up by guards to be beaten by inmates and denied medical treatment during a hellish and harrowing Odyssey through seven federal and state jails between his 2021 arrest, 2024 conviction and after. It didn’t end until the 42-year-old Pennslyvania native was pardoned by Pres. Donald J. Trump on Jan. 20, 2025—one of his very first acts as president.
The allegations in Samsel's complaint could not be independently verified by The Free Lance News. They are, however, consistent with confirmed abuse of other inmates by prison officials. Because the Government’s treatment of Samsel would violate the Eighth Amendment if proven true, they are tantamount to torture under decisions of the US Supreme Court.
The jails Samsel were detained in include the "Goodfellas" jail—the notorious maximum-security Federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, featured in the Martin Scorsese movie by the same name—and Brookyn's "Diddy" jail, where Sean "Diddy" Combs was held pending his federal sex trafficking trial.
Other notorious defendants held at the infamous Brooklyn jail include Luigi Mangione, R & B singer R. Kelly, “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, wayward rappers Fetty Wap and Tekashi 6ix9ine, alleged cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, the former president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as well as the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Hernandez, like Samsel, was ultimately pardoned by Pres. Trump.
Samsel helped lead pro-Trump protesters as they overran police defenses around the US Capital. According to video posted to YouTube in 2022 and federal prosecutors, "Samsel was the first rioter to breach the restricted perimeter."
That opened the "floodgates," prosecutors alleged, allowing "thousands of rioters" to pour "onto the West Front of the U.S. Capitol grounds." Samsel "lit the match," they alleged, that turned a legitimate, lawful "protest into a criminal, violent riot, which eventually halted the … electoral college certification, and injured numerous police officers."
Samsel denies he actually entered the Capital. Prosecutors did not claim otherwise. He did take a celebratory "selfie" photograph capturing him and his then-girlfriend, Raechel Genco, on the steps of the Capital as others fought police to break into it.
Before Samsel was pardoned, Israeli-genocide loving Federal judge Gia Cobb held a bench trial and convicted Samsel of five federal felonies and two misdemeanors—including assault on police. Prosecutors asked for a 20-year sentence, but Pres. Trump pardoned him on his first day back in office.
Samsel is represented by pardon attorney Peter Haller.
Samsel filed the lawsuit under the Federal Torts Claim Act on Tuesday. The lawsuit names the "United States of America" as the defendant. It claims assault, battery, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, abuse of process, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, negligence and medical malpractice. The suit asks for $17,980,000.00 in compensatory damages.
According to the 39-page, 168-paragraph legal complaint, Samsel's problems started at the federal jail in Philadelphia. There, federal prosecutors pressured him to falsely finger fellow protester Proud Boy leader Joe Biggs as having possessed a firearm during the Capital siege. When Samsel refused, he was transferred to the District of Columbia jail.
At the DC jail, a guard the complaint names as "Corporal Hayes" told inmates Samsel was a member of the Proud Boys—thus targeting the white Samsel for racial violence. Instead of being attacked by other inmates, Samsel claims Hayes and other guards handcuffed him behind his back and beat him until he passed out. The beating broke bones in his eye and nose. It also injured his wrist.
When DC jail officials failed to properly treat Samsel's injuries, a federal magistrate judge ordered his transfer to a different jail. At the Rappahannock Regional Jail in Virginia, he was assaulted by a cell-mate "who recognized him from television news coverage," forcing his placement in solitary confinement. Like at the DC jail, officials also did not properly treat his injuries, Samsel's Complaint alleges.
In August 2021, Semsel was transferred to the Central Virginia Regional Jail and falsely labeled a sex-offender. That, he alleges, caused him to be kept in a three-by-six foot cell with 24/7 lighting and a "black magnet" covering the window.
“During this period, plaintiff was deprived of exercise, showers, basic hygiene and library access,” the complaint alleges. “Mr. Samsel was not allowed outside at any time at CVRJ."
After complaining to a judge overseeing his criminal prosecution, the complaint alleges jail officials performed a violent "cell extraction" during which Samsel was handcuffed and dropped—on his face. Samsel was held in solitary at that jail for four more months, during which the light in his cell was kept on 24/7. He suffered "severe sleep deprivation and psychological harm," according to the complaint.
Again, a judge ordered his transfer to another jail. This time, Samsel was sent to the Northern Neck Regional Jail—also in Virginia.
Then the New York Times published an Oct. 7, 2021 report alleging he was connected to the Proud Boys, Samsel claims he was attacked by guards, again. This time so severely he had to be brought back to life with CPR. They broke another bone around his eye. The complaint alleges Samsel was "slammed into a wall, dragged to an area without camera surveillance, repeatedly stabbed in the ankles and legs with keys by Captain English and his officers, punched, and had his head slammed into a door."
Contacted by state officials, Capt. English "initially denied knowledge of any incident, evidencing an attempted cover-up," according to the complaint.
When Samsel was returned to the jail after treatment at a local hospital, guards there punished him by placing him in a so-called "restraint chair" for 17 hours. He was kept in four-point restraints and not allowed to use a bathroom. After that, he was again placed in solitary confinement, for a month. He was not allowed to shower, the complaint alleges.
Next, Samsel was transferred back to the federal jail in Philadelphia and, from there, to the federal penitentiary at Lewisburg—the "Goodfellas" jail. He was placed in solitary confinement, again, and again denied medical treatment for his growing number of injuries.
In solitary at Lewisburg, he was moved every 10 days to a different cell where he was forced to clean excrement off the walls without proper cleaning supplies or protective gear. This went on for three months, according to the complaint.
Judge Cobb held a bench trial for Samsel in the fall of 2023 and issued her decision, acquitting him of some charges but finding him guilty of others, Feb. 2, 2024.
After his conviction, Samsel was transferred to a seventh jail: the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn—the “Diddy” jail. There, his complaint alleges, he was placed in "one of the facility's most violent gang units, known as the 'Mac Baller' unit." There he was stabbed.
He was forced to stitch himself up, he alleges, to avoid being labeled a "snitch" by other inmates or sent to solitary confinement—again. The Brooklyn jail’s guards, he alleges, "condoned or ignored assaults and robberies." He "witnessed a stabbing that led to the death of an inmate."
After he wrote an article detailing his abuse for the Gateway Pundit blog, he was sent to solitary confinement again. This time, he was placed in a cell with an MS-13 gang leader, he alleges, "who attacked him for his political beliefs."
After he was pardoned by Pres. Trump, a federal prosecutor falsely alleged he had an outstanding warrant—which caused him to be held in prison unnecessarily for another day.
Samsel's lawsuit was filed in federal court in Virginia. Haller, his attorney, declined to comment or connect The Free Lance News with his client. A message left with Samsel's mother for him to call was not returned.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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