2 busted in deadly D.C. bash of cop

Two men who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot have been arrested and charged with assaulting the U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after the attack, but it’s unclear if they are responsible for his death, authorities said Monday.

Julian Elie Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania and George Pierre Tanios, 39 of Morgantown, W. Va., were arrested Sunday, according to Department of Justice officials who said the men attacked the officer with bear spray during the siege of the Capitol building.

The officer, Brian Sicknick, died in the melee that erupted after rioters violently stormed the building and disrupted the Electoral College vote count used to certify President Biden’s election win.

Autopsy results for Sicknick were still pending on Monday, and without a cause of death, his case has not been established as a homicide.

Even so, prosecutors said evidence of an assault on Sicknick is clear on video footage of the riot.

According to court papers, Khater and Tanios were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and were caught on camera spraying a chemical substance directly in the face and eyes of law enforcement officers.

“Give me that bear s—t,” Khater said to Tanios shortly after 2 p.m., authorities said, quoting the video.

“Hold on, hold on, not yet, not yet,” his partner replied. “It’s still early.”

A short time later, Khater retrieved a canister from Tanios’ backpack and walked through the crowd to within a few steps of the police perimeter, the court papers said.

The video shows Khater with his right arm up high in the air, appearing to be holding a canister in his hand and aiming it in the officers’ direction while moving his arm from side to side.

Several officers including Sicknick retreated, bringing their hands to their faces and rushing to find water to wash out their eyes.

Khater and Tanios are each charged with conspiracy to injure an officer, assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, civil disorder, obstructing or impeding an official proceeding, physical violence on restricted grounds and other offenses.

The men each made brief court appearances from jail via videoconference on Monday and will remain locked up pending future hearings. A detention hearing was scheduled for Thursday for Tanios.

Sicknick died at a hospital about 9:30 p.m. Jan. 7, one day after 139 police officers were reportedly assaulted by an angry mob of weapon-wielding Donald Trump supporters.