The two men accused of pepper-spraying Capitol Police officers during the Jan. 6 riot were denied bond.
A federal judge denied bond for Julian Khater, a Pennsylvania resident, and George Tanios, who is from West Virginia, on Tuesday.
“You can bring a pocket knife to D.C., which is legal, but at the point you use it on police it is illegal,” said D.C. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan, according to WUSA9. “Obviously, they had some intention to use the product. It seems they definitely planned it at that point. The only targets they were worried about using the spray to attack were the police. They weren’t going to attack the other rioters.”
They pleaded not guilty to charges, including three counts of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon; conspiracy to injure an officer; civil disorder; obstructing an official proceeding; physical violence on restricted grounds while carrying dangerous weapons that resulted in significant bodily injury; violent entry; aiding and abetting; and disorderly conduct.
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“It concerns me because these two gentlemen are law-abiding, respected individuals in their community, and it makes it very difficult for the court to come to this conclusion,” the judge added, though he later pointed out their actions contributed to the chaos.
“That assault helped lead to the violent breach of the Capitol,” Hogan said. “And that indicates a finding of dangerousness. The conduct contributed to the chaos on Capitol Hill.”
The Capitol Police announced Officer Brian Sicknick, a 42-year-old who joined the agency in 2008, died on Jan. 7, one day after the riot. After months of speculation, on April 19, the medical examiner ruled that Sicknick’s death was not a result of the spray, or an erroneous report that his death was caused by getting hit with a fire extinguisher, rather he died after suffering two strokes.
The medical examiner’s office told the Washington Examiner at the time that Sicknick’s “cause of death” was “acute brainstem and cerebellar infarcts due to acute basilar artery thrombosis” (a stroke), and the “manner of death” was “natural.”
Sicknick was sprayed with a chemical substance around 2:20 p.m. on Jan. 6, collapsed at the Capitol around 10 p.m., and was transported by emergency services to a local hospital, the office said. He died around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, the office added.
Thousands of Trump supporters flocked to Washington, D.C., to hear him speak at a rally on the morning of Jan. 6, the day Congress was set to confirm President Joe Biden’s election victory over Trump’s objections. During the speech, Trump urged the throng to march to the Capitol “peacefully and patriotically” to protest. But some supporters wound up clashing with police and barging into the Capitol, vandalizing it and prompting a lockdown.
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The FBI has apprehended more than 300 people in connection to the violence that occurred at the Capitol on Jan. 6, of whom 65 were charged for assaulting officers.
Five people died on the day of the riot, though only one was ruled a homicide.
Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Navy veteran, was shot and killed as she tried to breach a door leading to the House Chamber, and the unnamed officer who killed her was not charged in connection to her death, though her family has said they will be filing a lawsuit against U.S. Capitol Police and the officer who fatally shot her for at least $10 million.
