Man Convicted of Assaulting Police in Tipping Point on Jan. 6

A Pennsylvania barber whose violent attacks on the police on Jan. 6, 2021, were widely seen as the tipping point in the storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob was convicted on Friday of federal assault charges.

The barber, Ryan Samsel, was one of the first people to confront the police on Jan. 6 and push through barricades at what is known as the Peace Circle, allowing hundreds of others behind him to breach the grounds of the Capitol and ultimately the building itself. Prosecutors at a trial for Mr. Samsel and four co-defendants, who were also convicted of assault and other charges, said that the men’s actions “ignited a fire that burned for over four hours at the Capitol.”

The guilty verdicts, returned by the judge after a bench trial in Federal District Court in Washington, were the latest reminders that the prosecutions of those who took part in the storming of the Capitol continue apace, even more than three years after the attack. This week alone, charges were unsealed against at least nine additional defendants, bringing the total number of people accused in connection with the Capitol attack to more than 1,260.

The assault on the building has also found itself front and center in the 2024 presidential campaign as former President Donald J. Trump has lionized those who joined in it, referring to them as “hostages” and “political prisoners.” As he has often done with potential political liabilities, Mr. Trump has sought to flip the script on the Capitol attack and turn it to his electoral advantage through a campaign of persistent disinformation built around the assertion that the Justice Department is persecuting him and his supporters.

Last week, a federal judge in Washington appointed by President Ronald Reagan denounced such attempts to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, calling them “shameless,” “preposterous” and potentially a “danger to our country.”

“In my 37 years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream,” the judge, Royce C. Lamberth, wrote. “I have been dismayed to see distortions and outright falsehoods seep into the public consciousness.”

Mr. Samsel, who was arrested in January 2021, became a well-known figure in the Capitol attack after photos and videos emerged of him speaking with Joseph Biggs, a leader of the far-right group the Proud Boys, just before he approached the barricades and started to confront the officers behind them.

Videos also showed that just before he began attacking the police, Mr. Samsel was approached by Ray Epps, an Arizona man who has been falsely accused by right-wing pundits and politicians of being a covert agent who instigated the riot as a way to discredit Mr. Trump’s supporters.

While Judge Jia M. Cobb, who presided over the trial, found all of the defendants guilty of at least some felony offenses, including obstructing the final certification of the 2020 election, she also acquitted them of federal trespassing charges.

Judge Cobb decided that prosecutors had failed to prove, as the statute requires, that the men had knowingly gotten too close to a person protected by the Secret Service — in this case, Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the Capitol on Jan. 6 overseeing the election certification.

The government has charged hundreds of people with violating the trespassing law. But Judge Cobb joined two other Washington judges who recently tossed out the count in what could spell trouble for the use of the law in connection with Jan. 6 riot cases.