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The man, Ryan Stephen Samsel, has been charged with forcibly assaulting a police officer, attempting to obstruct a police officer and obstruct formal proceedings, unsealed court documents show Monday.
Authorities arrested Samsel in Pennsylvania on Saturday, according to the Justice Department.
Investigators reviewed video footage in which they identified Samsel, whom they described as wearing a denim jacket and a red MAGA hat. The video, which police say was recorded around 12:50 p.m., shows one of the first clashes with police in barricades outside the Capitol complex on January 6.
“Pushing the barricades to the ground, SAMSEL and others knocked down (a) a US Capitol police officer … as the crowd lifted the barricades and pushed towards the Capitol, causing the head (of the officer) down the stairs behind her, causing unconsciousness. ”
Samsel picked the officer – prosecutors have not publicly identified her – on the ground, according to an affidavit, saying, “We don’t have to hurt you, why are you getting in our way?”
Investigators said the officer “passed out and collapsed” and was taken to a hospital where doctors determined she had suffered a concussion, court documents show.
When investigators checked to see if Samsel had a criminal history, they said they found out that he was on parole from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and that there was an arrest warrant against him in Riverside, New Jersey. , for an alleged assault in 2019.
Samsel’s case is one of a growing number of cases filed by authorities following violence that erupted as rioters clashed with police trying to push them back from the Capitol.
An attorney for Samsel was not in federal court records, but CNN contacted Samsel’s attorney from a previous case in an attempt to solicit Samsel’s comment.
A CNN analysis of court records and Department of Justice announcements found that more than 175 people have so far been charged by federal prosecutors in connection with the riot.
At least 16 of these people have been charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing a law enforcement officer.
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