Two men sprayed Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick with bear spray during the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to charging documents unsealed on Monday.
Julian Khater of Pennsylvania and George Tanios of West Virginia have been charged with assault for allegedly hitting Sicknick, who died a day after the riot, with the chemical spray, according to The Washington Post. Khater and Tanios face a total of nine charges that are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The men were connected with the assault through tipsters who contacted the FBI identifying the men from videos, prosecutors said in a complaint. Tanios’ sister claimed that he “was arrested for something he didn’t do. He didn’t do it. He would never do that.”
Sicknick died in a hospital on the evening of January 7. Questions have swirled around the police officer’s death amid claims that he was killed by a pro-Trump rioter who hit the officer in the head with a fire extinguisher. The District of Columbia medical examiner’s office has yet to release any information on Sicknick’s death.
A January 7 press release by the U.S. Capitol Police announcing Sicknick’s death said that he was injured while engaging rioters.
“At approximately 9:30 p.m. this evening (January 7, 2021), United States Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick passed away due to injuries sustained while on-duty,” the press release said. “Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol and was injured while physically engaging with protesters. He returned to his division office and collapsed. He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.”
Early media reports said that Sicknick died after suffering blunt force trauma to the head. Later reports cast doubt on that claim, however. Numerous outlets have reported that Sicknick’s autopsy showed no such signs of trauma. On March 4, The New York Times edited a January 8 article on Sicknick’s death to include the graf:
Law enforcement officials initially said Mr. Sicknick was struck with a fire extinguisher, but weeks later, police sources and investigators were at odds over whether he was hit. Medical experts have said he did not die of blunt force trauma, according to one law enforcement official.
Other reports suggest that federal investigators are struggling to build a murder case against anyone involved in the officer’s death.
Sicknick became the third officer to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda in February. As The Daily Wire reported:
The Capitol Police officer who died from injuries sustained during the riots on Jan. 6 will lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda beginning Tuesday.
Officer Brian D. Sicknick, 42, who joined the force in 2008 and was a member of the First Responder’s Unit, was “injured while physically engaging with protesters” during the breach of the Capitol, according to a statement from the Capitol Police, and later succumbed to his injuries.
At least 140 officers from both the Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police forces were injured during the riots, including severe injuries such as cracked ribs, smashed spinal discs, and a lost eye.
This article has been expanded after publication to include additional information.