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A person who assaulted United States Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick with pepper spray on January 6, 2021, was sentenced on Friday to 80 months behind bars.
Julian Khater pleaded responsible in September to two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a harmful weapon. His co-defendant, George Tanios, pleaded responsible final summer season to disorderly conduct and getting into and remaining in a restricted constructing. Khater was additionally ordered to pay a $10,000 superb and $2,000 in restitution.
Tanios was sentenced to time served and one yr of supervised launch. He beforehand spent greater than 5 months behind bars.
The day after the assault, Sicknick died after struggling a number of strokes. Washington, DC’s chief medical expert, Francisco Diaz, decided that the officer died of pure causes and instructed The Washington Post that the riot and “all that transpired played a role in his condition.”
Sicknick’s household and associate have been current for the sentencing and legislation enforcement officers dressed in uniform crammed the courtroom.
According to the plea agreements, Tanios purchased two cans of bear spray in preparation for his journey with Khater to Washington on January 6. During the Capitol assault, when the 2 males arrived close to a line of law enforcement officials by the steps of the Capitol, Khater stated to Tanios, “Give me that bear s**t,” in accordance to the plea.
Khater took a white can of bear spray from Tanios’s backpack, walked up to the road of officers and, as rioters began pulling on the bike rack barrier separating them and the police, Khater sprayed a number of officers – together with Sicknick – who had to retreat from the road.
One of these officers, Caroline Edwards, gave a witness influence assertion earlier than DC District Judge Thomas Hogan in the course of the sentencing listening to.
“I felt like the absolute worst kind of officer, someone who didn’t help – couldn’t help – their friend,” she stated of not having the ability to assist Sicknick after being sprayed herself seconds later by Khater. “Sometimes when I close my eyes I can still see his face, white as a sheet.”
Hogan known as Khater’s actions that day “inexcusable,” including that “three officers (who) were doing their duty … are suddenly sprayed directly in the face.”
“I’m not going to give a lecture on the riot,” Hogan stated, including that “every time you see the video you’re shocked over again” and that “something has come out of this country that is very, very serious.”
After recovering from the bear spray assault, Sicknick continued to assist defend the Capitol that day, in accordance to court docket paperwork, remaining on obligation till late into the night.
“Just before approximately 10:00 p.m., Officer Sicknick began slurring his speech while talking to fellow officers,” court docket paperwork 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.”
Khater’s protection lawyer stated that Hogan shouldn’t sentence his shopper for the demise of Sicknick, which the lawyer famous was decided to be of pure causes. The choose agreed, noting he “can’t sentence Mr. Khater (for) causing officer Sicknick’s death.”
Calling his shopper “sheepish” and “sweet and gentle,” Khater’s lawyer stated his actions that day amounted to seconds of “emotionally charged conduct” from a person who suffered from nervousness.
In his assertion to the choose, Khater started by highlighting how lengthy he had already served behind bars and the way it had “taken a huge toll” on him. “I wish I could take it all back,” he stated. “It’s not who I am.”
Hogan pressed Khater on why he didn’t expressly apologize to the officers in the courtroom and Sicknick’s household. “Somewhere along the lines we lost the sense of responsibility,” the choose stated.
“It’s the elephant in the room,” Khater stated, including that “there’s a civil thing going on” – in reference to a civil lawsuit from Sicknick’s property – and that his lawyer had warned him about what to say in court docket Friday.
“You should be afraid,” Hogan stated of the lawsuit.
Sicknick’s associate, Sandra Garza, had requested the choose to impose the utmost sentence for each males.
“I realize it will not bring back Brian, nor give him peace in his last moments on earth, but it will give some sense of justice in my universe,” Garza wrote to the choose.
“The only thing that surpasses my anger is my sadness,” Sicknick’s brother, Kenneth, wrote in his assertion to the choose. “Sadness that the only time I can communicate with Brian is to speak into the nothingness and hope that he is listening.”
Kenneth continued, “Brian was never one for the spotlight. He preferred to go about his business, not bringing attention to himself. My family and I quietly smile at each other when we attend an event honoring and remembering Brian and the weather turns bad. We know it’s Brian telling us that it is OK, he is OK, please don’t make a big deal about me, take care of the others that need it. That’s what he would have done.”
This story has been up to date with further particulars.