Ryan Samsel is suing after becoming what his lawyer described as ‘the most tortured individual by the Federal Government in recent American history.’
A former Jan. 6 defendant who alleges he was repeatedly abused in custody is suing the federal government for almost $18 million.
Ryan Samsel of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was convicted in September 2024 of civil disorder-related offenses in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach and was incarcerated and awaiting sentencing when President Donald Trump pardoned him on Jan. 20 of this year.
The civil legal process in Samsel’s case was initiated when the Department of Justice (DOJ) was served with a notice under the Federal Tort Claims Act on Nov. 28, his attorney, Peter Haller, told The Epoch Times. A tort is a wrongful act or infringement of a right that gives rise to civil liability.
To sue under the Federal Tort Claims Act, a claimant has to file an administrative claim with a federal agency within two years after the injury takes place. The agency then has six months to settle or deny the claim. The plaintiff then has six months after the claim is denied or the agency fails to respond to the claim to file a civil lawsuit against the federal government in federal district court.
The document that begins the process, known as a Standard Form 95, states that Samsel is seeking $17,980,000 from the federal government for personal injuries suffered from January 2021 through January 2025.
Samsel, now 42, was found guilty of “assaulting Officer C.E. with a deadly or dangerous weapon and inflicting bodily injury,” during the Capitol breach, the DOJ said last year.
The DOJ said Samsel was also convicted on felony charges of civil disorder; assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers; and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon.
Haller said his client disputes the criminal allegations and that the officer identified as C.E. suffered no injury, which he said was clear from a magnetic resonance imaging scan and other medical evaluations.
Samsel alleges he was subjected to physical abuse while in custody at facilities operated by the DOJ and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in the District of Columbia, New York, and Virginia.
There were 62 “separate assaults and other torts committed against Mr. Samsel while in the custody of the United States, as well as cruel and unusual punishment,” Haller said in the legal filing.
“Given the severity, duration, and documented multiplicity of the abuses suffered by Mr. Samsel, he is likely to be recognized as the most tortured individual by the Federal Government in recent American history,” the attorney said.
