Capitol riot detainee alleges beating by D.C. jail guards

By

Rachel Weiner

April 7, 2021 at 1:48 p.m. CDT

A man accused of assaulting a police officer at the Capitol on Jan. 6 alleges that two guards at the D.C. jail beat him last month, breaking his nose, dislocating his jaw and leaving him suffering seizures.

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An attorney for Ryan Samsel, 38, detailed the allegations in an interview Tuesday, saying he has been told the incident is under investigation by the jail and federal authorities.

“This is unjustified, and the way that these guys are being treated is completely unreasonable, it’s wholly unconstitutional,” the attorney, Steven Metcalf, said. “It doesn’t matter what these guys are being charged with. All of these guys are still pretrial detention; they have not been convicted of any crimes. And this is what they’ve been forced to endure.”

In a statement, the D.C. Department of Corrections said the jail “takes the safety and well-being of all residents, staff, and contractors extremely seriously. We are aware of the allegation made by an inmate and it is under investigation by the Department of Justice.”

Lira Gallagher, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Washington Field Office, said the bureau “is aware of the allegations; however, as a matter of policy, we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.”

According to Metcalf, the incident, as related to him by his client, began the afternoon of March 20 when Samsel complained that the guards had taken hours to get him toilet paper. An argument ensued. That evening, according to Metcalf, Samsel was moved to another cell. Around midnight, the lawyer said, two guards came to that cell, restrained Samsel’s arms behind his back with zip-tie handcuffs and “beat him to a bloody pulp.”

Samsel did not regain consciousness until the next day, according to Metcalf, and has since suffered seizures for the first time in his life. His nose was allegedly broken, his jaw dislocated and his vision in one eye damaged. Metcalf said he saw Samsel by video two weeks later, and his client’s face was still black and blue and the skin around his wrists stripped off.

Metcalf, who is representing other alleged rioters, said he heard of the alleged beating from them and has spoken to other inmates, as well. A second attorney for Samsel, Elisabeth Pasqualini, said she separately learned of the alleged incident from attorneys for other defendants in the unit.

Metcalf said he is in the process of learning the facts, including seeking Samsel’s medical records, and had not reported the incident to police. But he said his client complained at the jail. According to one of Samsel’s other attorneys, he has been transferred to a different facility.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/capitol-rioter-alleges-beating-jail-guards/2021/04/06/310cb700-9718-11eb-a6d0-13d207aadb78_story.html

D.C. medical examiner releases cause of death for four people who died during Capitol riot

By Peter Hermann and Steve Thompson

April 7, 2021 at 7:24 p.m. EDT

Two civilians who died during the violent Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol died of natural causes, and a third succumbed to amphetamine intoxication, according to the D.C. medical examiner’s office.

A fourth person, 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer inside the Capitol, was struck by a bullet to her front left shoulder, the medical examiner said in a statement.

The cause of death for a fifth person, Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who collapsed after confronting rioters and died Jan. 7, remains pending. Two people have been charged with assaulting Sicknick by spraying him with a chemical irritant.

The rulings in the four deaths that occurred as rioters stormed the Capitol seeking to overturn an election then-President Donald Trump had lost were announced in a statement issued Wednesday by the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

That statement said autopsies concluded that Kevin Greeson, 55, of Athens, Ala., and Benjamin Philips, 50, of Ringtown, Pa., died of natural causes due to cardiovascular disease. The medical examiner ruled that Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Ga., died of accidental acute amphetamine intoxication.

No other details of their deaths were revealed and officials declined to elaborate; autopsy reports are not public in the District, but are given to family members upon request. The drug cited in Boyland’s death is addictive and can be prescribed to treat attention-deficit disorder and narcolepsy.

Relatives of Greeson, Phillips and Boyland either did not comment or could not be reached on Wednesday.

In Babbitt’s death, the medical examiner ruled that the police officer’s bullet killed her and that the manner was homicide. That does not mean the officer who fired can be held criminally liable for the death.

D.C. police, which investigate all deaths in the District, led the inquiry into Babbitt’s shooting. A department spokesman said the investigation has been turned over to the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C., which will decide whether the officer who fired should face criminal charges.

Babbitt, a native Californian and Air Force veteran, was among a group of rioters inside the Capitol building trying to breach a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby, which would have opened access to the House of Representatives chamber.

Video clips show that as Babbitt — who had expressed support for Trump and repeated conspiracy theories and false claims of voter fraud — climbed up toward a broken section of the unguarded door, a Capitol officer on the other side fired, striking her.

Boyland also appeared to be an ardent supporter of Trump.

A Facebook page belonging to a Rosanne Boyland in Kennesaw features several pro-Trump posts and includes a false assertion that D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) ordered hotels and other businesses to close in advance of the Jan. 6 rally.

Court papers filed by prosecutors in connection with criminal cases against some of those charged in the insurrection say Boyland had been “trampled by the mob” near or on the Capitol steps as rioters battled police. In one account, a friend tried to carry Boyland across a threshold to police just as at least three officers were pulled into the crowd and beaten.

Relatives of Greeson and Philips have said neither traveled to Trump’s rally expecting to participate or be caught up in violence, though one had social media posts that advocated people take up arms, and another had posts showing a belief in false allegations of election fraud spread by Trump and his supporters.

A D.C. police report said Philips collapsed on the Capitol grounds but did not specify precisely where he was.

Greeson’s family said in a statement in January that he had a history of high blood pressure and “in the midst of the excitement, suffered a heart attack.”

A New York Times reporter saw Greeson collapse on a sidewalk on the west side of the Capitol. The father of five had been talking to his wife on a cellphone at the time.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/trump-riot-death-medical-exainer/2021/04/07/53806608-97cf-11eb-a6d0-13d207aadb78_story.html

Boston hospital set to offer 'preferential care based on race'

A Boston hospital says it will offer “preferential care based on race” and “race-explicit interventions” in an attempt to engage in an “antiracist agenda for medicine” based on critical race theory.

A Boston Review article titled “An Antiracist Agenda for Medicine” lays out a plan from Brigham and Women’s Hospital that implements a “reparations framework” for distributing medical resources in order to “comprehensively confront structural racism."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/boston-hospital-set-to-offer-preferential-care-based-on-race

>>75711

What genius came up with the idea that racism can be fought with—more racism? Ridiculous