Left: Ryan Samsel lifting an injured Capitol Police officer, later identified as Officer Caroline Edwards (via FBI court filings). Right: Edwards testifies before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack on June 9, 2022 (photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images).
The Pennsylvania man accused of assaulting Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards in the area of the Capitol grounds known as the Peace Circle on Jan. 6 is apparently refusing to be examined by doctors, despite previously insisting that he urgently needed medical treatment.
Prosecutors in the case against Ryan Samsel filed a motion Monday asking U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb for a second extension of the deadline for a medical evaluation of the defendant.
Samsel, who has been detained since his arrest in January 2021, has made multiple complaints about what he says is a lack of effective—and necessary—medical treatment. According to medical records, Samsel suffers from several health problems, including blood clots causing circulation issues in his arms, and a condition called gynecomastia, or overdevelopment of breast tissue in men.
He has cited these problems as one reason why he should be released from pretrial detention. Cobb, a Joe Biden appointee, has denied those requests so far, but last month she said she wanted Samsel to get the treatment he says he needs. She ordered that a medical evaluation at a “tertiary research center” be completed within 14 days of May 17, 2022.
Samsel, however, appears to have had a change of heart.
“On June 1, 2022, the…
