On Friday, an individual who used pepper spray to attack police officers during the January 6 incident outside the Capitol Building was given an 80-month jail term with credit for time already served.

In September of last year, Julian Khater of Somerset, New Jersey pled guilty to two felony counts of assaulting, obstructing, or hindering authorities with a dangerous weapon during the January 6 revolt at the Capitol. Since March 14, 2021, he has been locked up.

Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was assaulted by Khater, passed on the day following the incident. Medical examiner for Washington, D.C., Francisco Diaz concluded that Sicknick died of natural causes after experiencing numerous strokes; Diaz informed the Washington Post that “everything that occurred had a role in his health.”

Friday in court, Gladys Sicknick, Sicknick’s mom, told Khater, “You savagely assaulted my kid like he was nothing but a pet. Honestly, Mr. Khater, you are the one who is the beast here. What’s it like to know you’re going to jail for lying straight to your face?”

The part Khater played in the uprising
The Justice Department claims that on January 6, Khater and his co-defendant, George Pierre Tanios of Morgantown, West Virginia, proceeded to the Capitol where Tanios had purchased two cannisters of pepper spray and two cannisters of bear spray.
After going to a rally for ex-president Donald Trump on the Ellipse, they joined the mob heading toward the Capitol.

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Police officers used a bike rack as a makeshift barricade as the throng sought to access the premises. The DOJ statement added that at 2:23 p.m., rioters attempted to yank the rack away from authorities, at which point Khater pepper sprayed Sicknick in the face, causing the officer to withdraw.

Khater sprayed two other police officers, who were also forced to flee.

The Department of Justice claimed that after being hit with pepper spray, all three officers were “physically injured and immobilized and unable to execute their jobs.”

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Sicknick reportedly went “ghostly pale” after being sprayed, according to Officer Caroline Edwards. She continued, explaining that she couldn’t rescue him because the chemical spray briefly blinded her; this is a source of ongoing survivor guilt for her.

During his final moments of life, “Brian delivered some of the very last breaths he had protecting the Capitol building… and our democracy,” Edwards said on Friday.

Both Khater and Tanios were apprehended in March of 2021, and both subsequently pled guilty to the allegations against them. Friday, Tanios was given a sentence of time already served.

The murder accusation against Khater was dropped.
Khater’s attorneys contended that their client was not at fault in Sicknick’s death by pointing out that the police officer died of natural causes on January 7, 2021.

That was the “monster in the room,” as Judge Thomas Hogan put it, and he refused to punish Khater or Tanios for something they had not been formally accused of doing.

But Hogan also claimed it was “inexcusable” to use chemical spray to attack police personnel.
According to Hogan, he never heard Khater apologize to the policemen, many of whom were hurt and would never work as police officers again.

“I believe it to be a pretty self-centered approach,” Hogan said to Khater on Friday.

Khater responded by telling the judge that he had prepared “several versions” of his statement but that he did not apologize due to pending civil matters. Hogan cautioned Khater about potential legal ramifications.

Sandra Garza, Sicknick’s lifelong companion, filed a wrongful death suit against Trump and the two rioters responsible for his death. Her demand for damages totals $10,000,000 against each defendant.

At the sentence, Garza stated that she had seen “zero remorse” from either Khater or Tanios.

Khater has remarked that he suffers from “crippling anxiety” and that “this has been a long, excruciating yet humbling experience that has taken a significant toll on me.”

Earlier this month, on the two-year anniversary of the uprising, President Biden honored 14 people the Presidential Citizens Medal for protecting the Capitol, including posthumous honors for Sicknick and colleague Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood. A family lawyer claims Liebengood committed suicide two days after defending the Capitol.