Man gets 6 years in prison for attacking Capitol cop

A New Jersey man who joined a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Friday to more than six years in prison for using pepper spray to assault police officers, one of whom died a day after the siege.

Julian Khater didn’t mention the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick or address his family in a written statement he read aloud before U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan sentenced him to six years and eight months of imprisonment.

Khater wasn’t charged in the officer’s death. A medical examiner concluded that Sicknick, 42, suffered two strokes and died of natural causes a day after he and other officers tried to hold off the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Hogan said Sicknick’s death was the “elephant in the room” but stressed that the coroner’s report didn’t give him any basis to use that as a sentencing factor. The judge noted Khater did not apologize to the officers whom he attacked or express any sorrow for hurting them.

“Somewhere along the line, we’ve lost the sense of acceptance of responsibility,” Hogan said.

Khater replied he changed his prepared statement to the court on his lawyer’s advice after he was recently named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit over his actions on Jan. 6.

“I wanted to apologize to everybody,” he said.

The judge gave Khater credit for the nearly two years he has served in pretrial detention. Hogan also ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine.

Khater’s friend and co-defendant, George Tanios, pleaded guilty to misdemeanour charges of disorderly and disruptive conduct and spent nearly six months in jail before an appeals court ordered his release. Hogan sentenced Tanios, 41, of West Virginia, on Friday to the jail time he already served.

Dozens of police officers filled the courtroom gallery, with many others watching the proceedings on a television in an overflow courtroom.

Although Tanios and Khater weren’t charged in Sicknick’s death, the officer’s relatives believe they bear responsibility. Sicknick’s mother, two brothers, a sister-in-law and his girlfriend addressed the court before he imposed the sentences.

“Your selfish actions have caused more pain than you could ever imagine,” said an older brother, Craig Sicknick. “My family is a wreck, and none of us have been even remotely unscathed as the result of your actions that day.”

Gladys Sicknick, the officer’s mother, told Khater he is “centre stage in our recurring nightmare. You attacked my son like he was an animal. You are the animal, Mr. Khater,” she said.

More than 100 police officers were injured at the Capitol on Jan. 6.