Men accused with sparking violence at Capitol riot convicted of assaulting police

WASHINGTON (CN) — A group of five Capitol rioters identified as the first to breach the police line outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were convicted on a slew of crimes on Friday.

Ryan Samsel, James Grant, Paul Johnson, Stephen Randolph and Jason Blythe were found guilty by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb after an on-and-off trial that began in October 2023.

The defendants each traveled to Washington on their own but were all present at the Peace Circle — a roundabout on Pennsylvania Avenue at the edge of the Capitol grounds — where they joined together to lift and push a metal barricade into the line of Capitol Police officers stationed there.

Video footage presented during trial showed the five men, none of whom knew each other before Jan. 6, at the front of the initial crowd of former President Donald Trump’s supporters to descend on the Capitol.

While lifting the barricade over their heads, they pushed the officers back toward a stairwell behind them leading up to the Capitol grounds and caused an officer to fall backward and hit her head on the metal handrail. She laid there until Samsel moved around the barricade and helped her back to her feet, according to the footage taken from other members of the crowd.

“This moment marked the beginning of the Capitol riot,” said Justice Department prosecutor Kyle Mirabelli during opening statements in the case on Oct. 23, 2023.

Defense attorneys, representing each defendant separately, argued that their clients should not carry the blame for beginning the riot that resulted in the deaths of five people and injured over 140 police officers.

Stanley Woodward Jr., Samsel’s defense attorney of Brand Woodward Law, said in his opening statements that it is “not possible to pin the events of Jan. 6 on Samsel” because he was merely at the front of a large crowd filled with people just as likely to have begun pushing against the police line.

Samsel was convicted on eight charges: three counts of assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon, two counts of civil disorder, assaulting officers, engaging in physical violence on Capitol grounds and obstruction of an official proceeding.

According to the video presented at trial, Samsel can be seen speaking briefly with Ray Epps, a former Marine at the center of conservative conspiracy theories — mainly pushed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — claiming he was a government agent responsible for instigating the violence that day.

Both Epps and Samsel have denied claims that Epps sought to spur violence at the Peace Circle, asserting that he urged Samsel not to attack the police line.

Epps was sentenced to a year of probation in January after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge for disorderly conduct in a restricted area.

Each defendant received guilty convictions for assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, with the metal barricade counting as the weapon. The charge carries with it a maximum sentence of 20 years, double the amount for assaulting an officer.

During trial, Grant’s attorney Robert Feitel, Randolph’s lawyer Angela Halim, Blythe’s attorney Stephen Brennwald and Johnson’s attorney Lauren Rosen each argued that their clients did not come to the Capitol “prepared for battle.”

Johnson brought a bullhorn that he used to spur rioters toward the Capitol, while Blythe brought a helmet.

They did not bring weapons with them, they said, and should not receive harsher sentences as a result.

Cobb, a Joe Biden appointee, scheduled a single sentencing hearing for the group for June 13.

Grant and Johnson were found guilty on five charges. Randolph was convicted on four charges and Blythe on three. All five were convicted of civil disorder and one count of assaulting a police officer.

In the three years since the Capitol riot, more than 1,265 defendants have been charged in connection to their actions at the riot, with approximately 452 people charged with assaulting officers and 123 charged for assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon.

More than 467 Jan. 6 defendants have been sentenced to prison. The investigation is still ongoing and the FBI has requested public assistance in identifying more Capitol rioters.

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