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WASHINGTON - U.S. authorities have arrested and charged two men with assaulting U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick with bear spray during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot but have not determined whether the exposure caused his death.
Julian Elie Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, and George Pierre Tanios, 39 of Morgantown, W.Va., were arrested Sunday and are expected to appear in federal court Monday
“Give me that bear s---,” Khater allegedly said to Tanios on video recorded at the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol at 2:14 p.m., where Sicknick and other officers were standing guard behind metal bicycle racks, arrest papers say.
About nine minutes later, after Khater said he had been hit with bear spray, Khater is seen on video discharging a canister into the face of Sicknick and two other officers, arrest papers allege.
Khater and Tanios are charged with nine counts including assaulting Sicknick, a U.S. Capitol Police officer identified as C. Edwards and a D.C. police officer identified as B. Chapman with a deadly weapon. They are also charged with civil disorder and obstruction of a Congressional proceeding. The charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
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Prosecutors filed charges after tipsters contacted the FBI allegedly identifying Khater and Tanios from wanted images released by the Bureau from surveillance video and officer-worn body camera footage, the complaint said. It said the men grew up together in New Jersey, and that Khater had worked in State College, Penn., and Tanios owns a business in Morgantown, W.Va.
Still, questions remain about whether anyone will be held criminally responsible in connection with Sicknick’s death. Without a cause of death, his case has not been established as a homicide, although charging papers allege evidence of an assault on Sicknick is clear on video.
Sicknick died at a hospital about 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, one day after 139 police officers were reportedly assaulted by an angry mob Trump supporters wielding sledge hammers, baseball bats, hockey sticks, crutches and flagpoles. At least 800 people entered the Capitol after a smaller number forced entry, police have testified, seeking to block Congress from confirming the November presidential election victory of Joe Biden.
Sicknick, 42, who grew up in South River, N.J., became the third officer to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda in early February, where fellow officers, lawmakers and President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden came to pay respects to the 13-year U.S. Capitol Police veteran and former New Jersey Air National Guard member.
Authorities have included Sicknick among five people who died as a result of the riot. The four others were civilians - Ashli Babbitt, 35, who was shot by an officer, and three others died in the chaos.
Referring to Sicknick, a House-passed article of impeachment charged Trump with inciting insurrection, alleging that members of a crowd he addressed “injured and killed law enforcement personnel.” Trump was acquitted after 57 Senators voted to convict him for inciting the attack, 10 short of the two-thirds majority needed.
Still, how Sicknick was injured had not been made clear.
Then-Acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said in a statement shortly afterward that Sicknick died of “the injuries he suffered defending the U.S. Capitol,” echoing a statement by Capitol Police.
The Capitol Police said that Sicknick “was injured while physically engaging with protesters” and collapsed after he had returned to his office following the riot.
Investigators determined he did not die of blunt force trauma, people familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. After more than two months, no autopsy or toxicology report has been made public.
The case remains a top priority for investigators - including the FBI, Capitol Police and D.C. police, which handles all deaths in the District - with Rosen saying authorities would “spare no resources in investigating and holding accountable those responsible.”
The day after Sicknick died, his family issued a statement noting “many details regarding Wednesday’s events and the direct causes of Brian’s injuries remain unknown and our family asks the public and the press to respect our wishes in not making Brian’s passing a political issue.”
That statement was in part an attempt to quell rumors circulating on social media that purported to show videos of attacks on Sicknick, and possible suspects.
The family added: “Brian is a hero and that is what we would like people to remember.”
Sicknick’s family has not spoken publicly, and their spokeswoman said in February they decided against conducting interviews.
Sicknick of northern New Jersey, is survived his older brothers, Ken and Craig, parents Charles and Gladys Sicknick, and his girlfriend of 11 years, Sandra Garza.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., paid tribute to Sicknick on the Senate floor, saying the officer understood “that wearing that uniform, wearing that badge, that you had a sacred duty to protect this sacred space.”
The senator described Sicknick’s death as a “crime” that “demands the full attention of federal law enforcement.” He said “when white supremacists attacked our nation’s capital, they took the life of one of our officers. They spilled his blood, they took our son away from his parents. They took a sibling away from their brothers.”
Sicknick joined the New Jersey Air National Guard in 1997 and had been assigned to the 108th Air Refueling Wing out of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. The Guard said he deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1999 and to Kyrgyzstan in 2003.
Though Sicknick supported Trump, those who encountered him said his political views did not align neatly with one political party. Messages he sent to his congressman, Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., were “polite and measured,” according to the lawmaker’s spokesman. He opposed impeachment and favored gun control. He was concerned about animal cruelty and the national debt.
During the ceremony honoring Sicknick at the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., described him as a “peacekeeper, not only in duty but in spirit.”