Capitol police officer knocked unconscious in riot asks court not to release her alleged attacker

‘You stole months of me working alongside the country’s most dedicated police officers’

Ryan Samsel is accused of attacking a police officer during the Capitol riot (US Department of Justice)

A US Capitol police officer has requested that one of the people suspected of attacking her and knocking her unconscious during the Capitol riot be denied a release from jail.

The officer was allegedly attacked by Ryan Samsel, who was arrested for participating in the riot.

Mr Samsel can be seen in photos of the riot wearing a red MAGA hat and squaring up against Capitol police officers. Photos also appear to capture him shoving on the police fencing just before the start of the attack.

In a written statement, the officer said Mr Samsel had "stolen moments away from me ... that I cannot get back."

"You stole months of me working alongside the country's most dedicated police officers," the officer wrote.

According to NBC News's Scott MacFarlane, the officer cites "psychological trauma" she endured and said she wanted freedom from her experiences that day.

"When will we be set free?" the officer asked in response to Mr Samsel's request to be released from jail. "When will I be full and whole again?"

Mr Samsel has complained that he has difficulty getting aspirin in jail and claims he was beaten in March by two correctional officers during a fight over toilet paper. He claims the officers broke his nose, dislocated his jaw and left him with persistent seizures.

He also claimed he'd been denied medical care at the jail.

Despite his troubles, the officer injured by Mr Samsel requested he remain in jail.

"I'm asking Ryan Samsel not be released, no more women should be injured at his hands," the officer told the court.

Mr Samsel reportedly has a history of violence and abuse.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a decade before allegedly participating in the Capitol riot, Mr Samsel was convicted of smashing a hot pizza in the face of his pregnant girlfriend and pouring beer over her head. He also shoved her into a canal and held her head under water until she told him she loved him.

Two years before that, he was convicted of holding another woman against her will for five hours and choking her until she was unconscious.

Three years before that, he pleaded guilty to running another woman off the road, punching her windshield and threatening to kill her over $60.

Mr Samsel may have been part of a larger group that attended the riot on the 6 January. Footage of him yelling at police officers and shoving on the barricade also show an older man in military fatigues and a red MAGA hat walking up and whispering in his ear just before he begins to get aggressive.

On Friday, prosecutors said the number of people who will be charged in connection to the insurrection could increase to as many as 550.