Feds: Pennsylvania man charged in Jan. 6 insurrection has long history of violent crimes against women, should stay in jail

The Department of Justice filed a scathing document Wednesday on a Pennsylvania man, chronicling an extensive history of physical violence against women, hoping to keep him in federal detention for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection, which included an attack on a female police officer.

Ryan Samsel, of Bucks County, has a history of "choking and beating women to the point of loss of consciousness, of many hospital visits for many victims, of chipped and missing teeth and of Samsel even breaking into one victim's home multiple times to assault her," according to the federal government's filing to keep Samsel in detention.

All of this is detailed in a 15-page document that seeks to keep him in prison. "Samsel's release would pose a danger to the community," according to the federal filing.

The debate over his detention intensified two months ago, when Samsel alleged that he was beaten at the Washington D.C. Central Detention Center. His attorney, Steven Metcalf, said his client was beaten to a "bloody pulp," and that they would pursue a civil suit. The Department of Justice is investigating the claim.

Today's federal filing acknowledged Samsel's injuries, but they don't outweigh the current charges against him "and the need to protect the public."

In 2006, he was convicted of multiple charges for running a woman's car off the road then threatening to kill her because she owed him $60. In 2009, he held a woman against her will for five hours, choking her until she was unconscious; a conviction followed. Two years later, he was convicted of choking and beating his pregnant girlfriend. A simple assault conviction followed in 2015, again on a woman, the Department of Justice recounted.

In 2019, a woman alleged that he broke into her house, raped and assaulted her; he faces an outstanding warrant in New Jersey for those allegations, according to the court filing.

For the Jan. 6 insurrection, he is charged with assaulting a police officer and other crimes. He allegedly pushed over barricades onto U.S. Capitol police officers, knocking one of them - a woman - to the ground. She hit her head on the stairs behind her and was later taken to the hospital and found to have a concussion, the documents state. He is also alleged to have pulled a riot shield from another officer, according to the FBI.

Samsel was among the first people to arrive at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, arriving before then-President Donald Trump had finished his speech, according to the Department of Justice. Most of the protesters went to the Capitol after Trump's speech.

More: Who they are: 44 Pennsylvania residents arrested for involvement in Capitol insurrection

More: Pennsylvania woman at insurrection called lawmakers criminals, saying: 'They need to hang.'

More: 80-year-old Army veteran from Pennsylvania, the oldest person arrested for insurrection

Kim Strong can be reached at kstrong@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Feds want Pennsylvania man to stay in jail after insurrection arrest