Agents arrested and charged two men with assaulting Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick with bear spray during the January 6 riot in Washington, DC, although they have not yet determined whether that caused the officer's death.
George Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, West Virginia, and Julian Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, were arrested Sunday on a series of charges, including
assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy and other crimes.
.
The hypothesis that Sicknick died after being doused by a chemical irritant has emerged in recent weeks as a new theory in the case.
A picture of the late Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, honoring him in a Capitol hallway on February 2, 2021. AP
The arrests are the closest federal prosecutors have come to identifying and charging anyone associated with the deaths that occurred during and after the riots.
Five people were killed, including a woman who was shot by a police officer inside the Capitol.
But many rioters face charges of injuring police officers,
who were attacked with baseball bats, sprayed with irritants, beaten and kicked, and rammed with metal doors
meant to keep insurgents out of the Capitol.
They call for the creation of a rapid reaction force to defend the Capitol from possible attacks
March 9, 202100: 27
Investigators initially believed that Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, based on statements collected early in the investigation, according to two people familiar with the case.
But as more evidence has been collected, the theory of the case has evolved and investigators now believe that
Sicknick may have ingested a chemical, possibly an anti-bear spray
, that may have contributed to his death, authorities said.
Sicknick and other officers were standing guard behind the metal bike racks as the mob descended on the Capitol on January 6.
[Identify the person who sprayed a chemical on the Capitol officer who later lost his life]
"Give me that bear shit
," Khater said before reaching into Tanios's backpack, according to court documents.
Tanios told Khater "not yet" because "it was still early", but Khater replied that "they just sprayed me".
Khater was then seen holding a can of chemical spray, prosecutors said.
Khater walked through the crowd toward the bike rack barrier.
The rioters began pulling on one of the racks, and Khater was seen with his arm in the air and the boat in hand while standing just five to eight feet from the officers, authorities said.
A video shows how the officers react one by one, putting their hands to their faces and running to find water to rinse their eyes, after they were sprayed with the spray, according to court documents.
Another police officer eventually saw Khater spraying the substance and he sprayed Khater himself, authorities said.
["Get ready for war": FBI finds evidence that the assault on the Capitol was coordinated]
The defendants made brief appearances in court by videoconference from jail on Monday and will remain in detention pending their next hearings.
Tanios will be presented again virtually this Thursday.
With information from The Associated Press.
