An attorney for a Capitol riot defendant says her client was “savagely” beaten by a guard while in custody at the D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility and may lose sight in one eye because of his injuries.
Elisabeth Pasqualini is one of the lawyers representing Ryan Samsel, a Pennsylvania man accused of pushing over barriers and knocking down a police officer – causing her to suffer a concussion – during the Capitol riot.
Samsel has been in federal custody since his arrest in January on charges of forcibly assaulting or interfering with a federal agent, obstructing an official proceeding and obstructing an officer.
This week, another Capitol riot defendant, Ronald Sandlin, told a federal judge during a bail hearing that Samsel was one of a number of defendants in the case who had experienced violence from D.C. correctional officers.
In an interview with WUSA9, Pasqualini said Samsel had been “viciously and savagely” beaten by a corrections officer who zip-tied his hands first. She says she was only alerted to the alleged attack when two attorneys representing other defendants contacted her and said her client had gotten “a beatdown” by a guard and was in the hospital.
“He has definitely suffered serious injuries, including a shattered orbital floor, a broken orbital bone, his jaw was broken, his nose was broken,” Pasqualini said. According to Pasqualini, Samsel is currently unable to see out of his right eye and may permanently lose vision in it.