Ryan Samsel, a Jan. 6 defendant who was later pardoned by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, has filed a notice under the Federal Tort Claims Act alleging 62 instances of abuse and medical neglect while held in multiple detention facilities, according to The Daily Wire. The notice seeks $18 million in damages; the allegations have not been independently verified in court records reviewed for this report.
Ryan Samsel was arrested on January 30, 2021, after authorities accused him of pushing a crowd-control bike rack toward police officers during the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, according to The Daily Wire. The outlet reported that Samsel remained in custody in various facilities until January 20, 2025, when Trump issued pardons and commutations for large numbers of Jan. 6 defendants.
According to The Daily Wire, Samsel has filed a legal notice under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) alleging 62 separate incidents of abuse, mistreatment, and denial of medical care while in federal and local custody, and requesting $18 million in compensation.
The Daily Wire reported that the filing describes an alleged assault by other inmates at the Washington, D.C., jail on March 21, 2021, and says medical records from Howard University Hospital documented reduced vision in Samsel’s right eye, seizures, and aggravation of a pre-existing vascular condition. The filing, as described by the outlet, says a D.C. judge ordered Samsel moved for his protection and medical care to Rappahannock Regional Jail in Virginia, where he was later attacked by a cellmate.
The outlet said the filing also claims that doctors recommended significant surgery related to blood clots that the facility could not provide, and that Samsel was later transferred in July 2021 to Central Virginia Regional Jail without his medical records. The Daily Wire further reported that the filing alleges a guard slammed Samsel’s head into the ground, resulting in hospitalization, and that Samsel was then held in solitary confinement with constant lighting in a cell described as roughly three feet by six feet for “seventy to ninety days,” with no exercise and a mistaken classification as a sex offender.
The Daily Wire said Samsel was later moved to Northern Neck Regional Jail, where the filing alleges guards stabbed his legs and ankles with keys and beat him, and that hospital records documented a broken orbital bone and stab marks. The outlet also reported that the filing describes Samsel being placed in a restraint chair for about 17 hours after a court hearing, alleging he was left on public display in a gymnasium where local schoolchildren could see him through a window.
According to the outlet, the filing further alleges that Samsel spent 20 days in solitary confinement at a federal detention facility in Philadelphia after expressing concerns about the FBI during a phone call, and that at U.S. Penitentiary Lewisburg a physician initially recommended house arrest for medical reasons but reversed course after pressure from government officials. The Daily Wire reported the filing also alleges that a scheduled surgery was canceled after an anonymous call to a hospital.
The Daily Wire said Samsel was subsequently transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he remained from 2022 to 2025, and that the filing alleges he was housed in a violent gang unit and attacked for his political beliefs. The outlet reported that the filing claims Samsel once used dental floss to close a wound and that he was denied access to religious services and a Bible despite requests.
Samsel’s attorney, Peter Haller, told The Daily Wire that the treatment amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment,” and said, “Nobody should forget what Biden did to these patriotic Americans, and a strong signal must be given that torturing citizens is simply not in the cards.” The Daily Wire also reported that Trump cited Samsel during the 2024 campaign, saying: “These people are being persecuted. One defendant was allegedly viciously and savagely beaten, resulting in numerous broken bones in his face and loss of sight.”
Under the FTCA process, an administrative claim typically must be presented to the federal government before a lawsuit can proceed. The Daily Wire reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi has until May to decide whether to settle the claim, after which Samsel could pursue litigation if the Justice Department declines.
