The person who carried out a pepper-spray assault on a US Capitol Police officer who died the day after the 2021 riot was sentenced to 80 months in jail on Friday with credit score for time already served in pre-trial detention.
Julian Khater, 32, who admitted in a responsible plea that he had used the pepper spray towards Officer Brian Sicknick and no less than two different officers, advised US District Decide Thomas Hogan the rash actions he took that day weren’t in his nature, and he needs he may take them again.
“I’ve taken each probability I probably may to higher myself as an individual,” stated Khater, who appeared in court docket clad in an orange jumpsuit.
“What occurred on Jan. 6 – there aren’t any phrases for it… I want I may take it again.”
George Tanios, 41, of Morgantown, West Virginia, who traveled to Washington with Khater and provided the chemical agent Khater used, was sentenced on the identical listening to on Friday to time served, after he pleaded responsible final yr to misdemeanor expenses of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds.
Khater was additionally ordered to pay a $US10,000 ($A14,000) high-quality, whereas Tanios was ordered to serve 100 hours of group service and to make use of no matter is left of his on-line authorized protection fund to pay a high-quality.
Courtroom tears
Sicknick, 42, died of a stroke the day after the January 6 riot. Though the health worker, Francisco J. Diaz, later attributed his loss of life to pure causes, he advised the Washington Submit he believed “all that transpired” on January 6, 2021, performed a task in his loss of life.
Dozens of uniformed and plain-clothed Capitol Cops attended the jam-packed sentencing listening to on Friday, which spanned greater than 4 hours. One of many folks in attendance left small packets of tissues for law enforcement officials to make use of through the emotionally-charged listening to.
5 of Sicknick’s kinfolk and Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who was additionally a sufferer of Khater’s pepper spray assault, addressed the court docket.
“You attacked my son like he was an animal,” stated Brian Sicknick’s mom Gladys Sicknick, who wore an outsized long-sleeve shirt that she stated belonged to her son. “You’re the animal, Mr. Khater.”
Hundreds of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol that day in an try to overturn his election loss.
Khater and Tanios are two of the greater than 950 individuals who have been charged in reference to the assault on the Capitol. 4 individuals died through the chaos and 5 law enforcement officials, together with Sicknick, died afterwards, some by suicide.
-AAP
