PA Man Charged With Assault Against Cop In Capitol Riot Death

PENNSYLVANIA – The FBI arrested two men, one from Pennsylvania, and charged them with assault against U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, a New Jersey native who died after he responded to the Jan. 6 riots and takeover attempt at the U.S. Capitol.

Sicknick, who grew up in South River, NJ was among several officers who died or were injured in connection to the riot (two officers committed suicide after the riots). Five rioters died in the takeover.

The two men are Julian Elie Khater, 32, of State College, Pennsylvania, and George Pierre Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, West Virginia, an FBI spokeswoman confirmed. They were charged with assault against a law enforcement officer. The FBI says the two men sprayed bear spray at Sicknick during the riot. The men were arrested Sunday and will appear in federal court Monday.

Khater was arrested as he was getting off an airplane at Newark Airport in New Jersey. Tanios was arrested at his home in West Virginia.

Khater pleaded not guilty on Monday. He is represented by Benedict and Altman, a New Brunswick, NJ law firm.

Sicknick died the next day at a hospital after he was injured while physically engaging with the rioters, said Capitol Police at the time. He tussled with rioters at the Capitol, and then collapsed later in the day back at his office. He was then taken to a hospital, where he died at 9:30 p.m. the following night, Jan. 7, according to Capitol Police.

However, Sicknick's exact cause of death has not yet been released. It is not determined if being hit with bear spray caused Sicknick's death, according to media reports.

In the hours following the melee, anonymous law enforcement officers told the New York Times that protesters hit Sicknick with a fire extinguisher. However, Sicknick's family later pushed back on that account, saying they had no confirmation that happened.

"He texted me and said, 'I got pepper-sprayed twice,' and he was in good shape," said his brother, Ken Sicknick, according to a statement the family put out and reported by ProPublica. "Apparently he collapsed in the Capitol and they resuscitated him using CPR."

The next day, the family heard things took an unexpected turn for the worst: Sicknick had a blood clot and had had a stroke; he was on a ventilator.

He died later that night.

According to the FBI, Khater and Tanios were identified as two men seen in a video attacking several police officers, including Sicknick, with bear spray.

"Give me that bear s—," Khater allegedly said to Tanios on the video. Tanios replied, “Hold on, hold on, not yet, not yet… it’s still early.”

According to the criminal complaint, "Khater then retrieved a canister from Tanios’ backpack and walked through the crowd to within a few steps of the police perimeter. The video shows Khater with his right arm up high in the air, appearing to be holding a canister in his right hand and aiming it at the officers’ direction while moving his right arm from side to side."

The complaint affidavit states that Officers Sicknick, Edwards, and Chapman, who were all standing within a few feet of Khater, each reacted to being sprayed in the face. The officers retreated, bringing their hands to their faces and rushing to find water to wash out their eyes.

Sicknick grew up in South River and is an Iraq War veteran. He also graduated from Middlesex County vo-tech schools, which planted a tree in his memory after he was killed.

Sicknick joined the Capitol Hill Police in July 2008 and most recently served in the department's First Responder's Unit.

Before joining the Capitol Police, Sicknick also served with the New Jersey Air National Guard. He was deployed with the 108th Security Force Squadron, 108th Wing, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. He was also deployed overseas twice in the Middle East, first in Operation Southern Watch and then in the Iraq War during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Khater and Tanios are each charged with one count of conspiracy to injure an officer; three counts of assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon; one count of civil disorder; one count of obstructing or impeding an official proceeding; one count of physical violence on restricted grounds, while carrying dangerous weapon and resulting in significant bodily injury; and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct, act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.

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