Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Man punished for attacking officers on Jan. 6
One policeman died day after Capitol riot
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 the officer’s family in a 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. However, the judge noted that 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 that he changed his 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 misdemeanor 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 Morgantown, 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. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said in a statement that they will “never forget Officer Sicknick’s bravery, nor his dedication to our country.”
“Officer Brian Sicknick died an American hero, and he will forever be remembered as one,” Manger said.
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 longtime girlfriend addressed the judge in 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 “center stage in our recurring nightmare.”
“You attacked my son like he was an animal. You are the animal, Mr. Khater,” she said.
Federal prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of seven years and six months for Khater, 34, of Somerset, New Jersey.
The medical examiner’s office in Washington determined in April 2021 that Sicknick died from natural causes after suffering two strokes near the base of his brain stem. The medical examiner also noted that Sicknick had engaged with rioters on Jan. 6 and that “all that transpired played a role in his condition,” according to prosecutors.
Defense attorney Chad Seigel said the medical examiner’s autopsy confirmed that Khater didn’t directly or indirectly cause the officer’s death.
“If there was any evidence to the contrary, they would have charged him,” Seigel said.