A man who attacked Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick with pepper spray during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been sentenced to 80 months in prison, CNN reports.
Julian Khater was charged with two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon. His co-defendant, George Tanios, was charged with disorderly conduct and entering and remaining in a restricted building. Both had previously pleaded guilty. Tanios was sentenced to time served and one year of supervised release.
Sicknick died one day after the riot after suffering several strokes and medical investigators say was related to natural causes.
“I may end up back in jail for two misdemeanors, and I’m sorry for that.” — Jan. 6 defendant George Tanios, in a video recorded by his sentencing team. He admitted purchasing pepper spray, and that Julian Khater got bear spray out of Tanios’ backpack. pic.twitter.com/vXYJXNWC4B
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) January 23, 2023
From CNN: According to the plea agreements, Tanios bought two cans of bear spray in preparation for his trip with Khater to Washington on January 6. During the Capitol attack, when the two men arrived near a line of police officers by the steps of the Capitol, Khater said to Tanios, “Give me that bear s**t,” according to the plea.
Khater took a white can of bear spray from Tanios’s backpack, walked up to the line of officers and, as rioters started pulling on the bike rack barrier separating them and the police, Khater sprayed multiple officers – including Sicknick – who had to retreat from the line.
According to reports, Sicknick continued to help fight back rioters after recovering from the pepper spray attack. “Just before approximately 10:00 p.m., Officer Sicknick began slurring his speech while talking to fellow officers,” court documents state. “He slumped backwards and lost consciousness, and emergency medical technicians were summoned for assistance. He was transported to the George Washington University Hospital where he remained on life support for nearly 24 hours and was pronounced dead at 8:51 p.m. the following day.”
Read the full report over at CNN.
