Jan 27, 2025
Ryan Samsel is back in Bristol, Pennsylvania, after serving nearly four years behind bars for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  He is one of about 1,500 Jan. 6 criminal defendants who were pardoned by President Donald Trump on his first day in office.  “I get a second chance at life, and I don’t intend on wasting it,” Samsel, 41, said in an interview with the NBC10 Investigators. “And I don’t want to embarrass Mr.Trump by getting myself in trouble.” Prior to Jan. 6, Samsel had been in and out of jail for various misdemeanors and some felonies for a span of 15 years. When he went down to D.C. on January 6, 2021, he was on parole and wanted for an assault in New Jersey.  The former barber said he went down to the nation’s capital because he was upset about the COVID-19 lockdowns and was hoping to speak to members of Congress at the Trump rally. He knew other people who attended the same gym he did, Atilis in Bellmawr, who were going.  Once there, Samsel followed what Trump was saying.  “When he says everybody go to the Capitol, I found myself at the very, very front and I seen a bike rack there,” Samsel told NBC10.  According to federal authorities, Samsel was the first person to breach the Capitol’s secure perimeter. After that he went up to the second barricade and exchanged words with an officer.  “I said, ‘You got to move this gate. We have a right to be here.’ And I pulled the gate,” Samsel said.  Samsel doesn’t dispute it’s him in the red Make America Great Again hat pulling and pushing the barricade. The video is part of the evidence the FBI collected against Samsel. We watched it with him days after he returned home from prison.  “I believe I had a right to be there. It’s the people’s house. I had a grievance,” he said.  Samsel and other defendants pushed the barricades against the police and broke through, knocking a female officer to the ground.  “I went over to pick her up and pulled her to safety right there,” he said.  Samsel was charged and convicted of assaulting the female officer– along with several other felony charges related to storming the Capitol grounds.  He was found not guilty of entering the Capitol building. “I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with letting your views heard. I think some things got out of hand. Absolutely. I don’t agree with everything there. That’s why I never entered the building,” he said. Samsel was facing a 20-year sentence when President Trump pardoned him — and hundreds of other Jan. 6th criminal defendants. “I was shocked,” Samsel said.  The former barber, who was supposed to be sentenced on Feb. 4, 2025, walked out of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on the morning of Jan. 21, 2025.  He told NBC10 he’s done with getting in trouble with the law.   “I’m 40, 41 years old now,” he said. “So you know enough’s enough.” We asked him if he regrets what he did on Jan. 6, 2021.  “No, no. I regret that the cops got hurt. I regret the protesters got hurt. But I believe that I was overcharged,” he said. He went on to ask rhetorically if he would have done things differently, and said “no.” “You think you would have still pushed through that barricade?” the NBC10 Investigators asked, to which he replied, “Yeah, yeah.” “Today?” the NBC10 Investigators asked.  “I think it’s a hard question, it’s a really hard question,” Samsel replied. “To be honest. I mean, that part maybe not pushed through the barricade but I mean attend January 6th? Yeah, but not, not the barricade part. Maybe not that. I would just skip that part.” Now that he’s a free man, Samsel says he wants to work on prison reform. “I don’t care what they’re in jail for… I’m not judging them. I just want to make sure that their rights are not violated and or due processes are kept,” he said.  He is hoping he can work with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, U.S.  Senator for Pennsylvania John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick on that effort. “Give me a chance to prove, prove my worth to society,” he said.  We reached out to the three politicians he mentioned but did not hear back. ...read more read less
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