2 charged in assault of Capitol officer who died after riot
U.S. officials have arrested and charged two men with assaulting U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.
WASHINGTON >> U.S. officials have arrested and charged two men with assaulting U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick with bear spray during the Jan. 6 riot, but they do not know yet whether it caused the officer’s death.
George Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, West Virginia, and Julian Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, were arrested Sunday. They were expected to appear in federal court Monday. The idea that Sicknick died after being sprayed by a chemical irritant has emerged in recent weeks as a new theory in the case.
The arrests are the closest federal prosecutors have come to identifying and charging anyone associated with the deaths that happened during and after the riot. Five people died, including a woman who was shot by a police officer inside the Capitol. But many rioters are facing charges of injuring police officers, who were attacked with bats, sprayed with irritants, punched and kicked, and rammed with metal gates meant to keep the insurrectionists from the Capitol.
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 they’ve collected more evidence, the theory of the case has evolved and investigators now believe Sicknick may have ingested a chemical substance — possibly bear spray — that may have contributed to his death, officials have said.
Khater is the man in a video obtained by the FBI that showed him spraying Sicknick and others with bear spray, according to court papers.
“Give me that bear (expletive), Khater said to Tanios on the video, according to court papers. Sicknick and other officers were standing guard near metal bike racks, the papers say.
Khater then says, “they just (expletive) sprayed me,” as he’s seen holding a white can with a black top that prosecutors said “appears to be a can of chemical spray.”
After he sprayed the officers, they “immediately retreat from the line, bring their hands to their faces and rush to find water to wash out their eyes,” according to the court papers.
The two suspects were in custody, and the names of their lawyers weren’t immediately clear.
Sicknick died after defending the Capitol against the mob that stormed the building as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win over Donald Trump. It came after Trump urged supporters on the National Mall to “fight like hell” to overturn his defeat.
The circumstances surrounding Sicknick’s death remain unclear, and a final cause of death has not been determined. Capitol Police have said he died after he was injured “while physically engaging with protesters” and the agency’s acting chief said officials consider it a line-of-duty death.
Sicknick collapsed later on and died at a hospital on Jan. 7. The Justice Department opened a federal murder investigation into his death, but prosecutors are still evaluating what other specific charges could be brought in the case and the probe continues, officials have said.
The medical examiner’s report on Sicknick’s death is incomplete. Capitol Police say they are awaiting toxicology results.
The FBI has already released about 250 photos of people being sought for assaulting federal law enforcement officers during the riot. Some have already been arrested, and the Justice Department said about 300 people have been charged with federal offenses related to the riot.
LOS ANGELES >> A look, by the numbers, at notable facts, figures and trivia from the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards:
11. First-time acting nominees. With the pandemic prompting Hollywood to hold back most of its major motion pictures in 2020, pulling big stars from the competition, newbies became the norm in the four acting categories. First-timers include Amanda Seyfried for “Mank,” Andra Day for “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” and Paul Raci for “Sound of Metal.” The best director category has even fresher faces, with only one repeat nominee, David Fincher, among the five up for the coveted Oscar.
10. Nominations for “Mank,” the most of any film this year, with nods for best picture, best director for Fincher, best actor for Gary Oldman and best supporting actress for Seyfried.
9. Actors of color nominated, a record. They include Steven Yeun, whose nod for “Minari” makes him the first Asian American to be nominated for best actor, and Riz Ahmed, who became the first person of Pakistani descent to be nominated in an acting category with his own best actor nod for “Sound of Metal.”
8. Career nominations for Glenn Close, who is up for best supporting actress this year for “Hillbilly Elegy.” Her first was for “The World According to Garp” in 1983. She has never won an Oscar.
7. Actors who have been nominated for Oscars after their deaths, now that Chadwick Boseman has received a posthumous nomination for best actor for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” The tragic honor puts him in elite company that includes James Dean, Spencer Tracy, Massimo Troisi and Peter Finch, who became the only man to win best actor posthumously, for “Network” in 1977. In the best supporting actor category, Heath Ledger and Ralph Richardson were nominated, with Ledger winning for “The Dark Knight” in 2009. Boseman died in August after a long and largely secret battle with colon cancer.
6. Black actors nominated, Boseman, Day, Viola Davis, Daniel Kaluuya, Leslie Odom Jr. and LaKeith Stanfield, after only one, Cynthia Erivo, was nominated last year.
5. African nations that have received nominations for best international feature, now that Tunisia has its first nominee, “The Man Who Sold His Skin.” Those five nations have combined for 10 nominated films. Along with Tunisia’s one, Algeria has had five, South Africa has had two, and Ivory Coast and Mauritania have had one apiece.
4. Nominations received by “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao, a record for a woman in a record year for women. An unprecedented 70 women received 76 nominations, led by Zhao, who was nominated for director, adapted screenplay, editing, and best picture as a producer. That tops Sofia Coppola and Fran Walsh, who each got three nominations in 2003. Zhao, who is also the first woman of color to be nominated for best director, is joined by “Promising Young Woman” director Emerald Fennel in the category, making it the first time two women have been nominated.
3. Career nominations for Sacha Baron Cohen, thanks to Abbie Hoffman and Borat. Baron Cohen is nominated for best supporting actor for playing Hoffman in “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” And just as he was for the first “Borat” film in 2007, he is nominated for best adapted screenplay this year for “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.”
2. Career nominations for Olivia Colman, whose nod for “The Father” follows 2019’s for “The Favourite.” She is one-for-one after winning best actress, and is nominated for best supporting actress this year.
1. Man nominated for both best actor and best original song. Odom, who came to fame singing and acting in “Hamilton,” has become the first man nominated for both in the same year for “One Night in Miami,” in which he plays singer Sam Cooke. Three women have done it, all very recently: Mary J. Blige for “Mudbound” in 2018, Lady Gaga for “A Star is Born” in 2019, and Cynthia Erivo for “Harriet” in 2020. Barbra Streisand was the first to be nominated for both, but for different films in different years.
0. Nominations for director Spike Lee or actor Delroy Lindo, whose “Da 5 Bloods” was among Monday’s biggest snubs. The film received just one nomination, for best score.
Woke supremacy is as tedious as white supremacy and neither get us anywhere. Virtue signaling to one’s own subgroup is fun but not really productive for any of us.
All lives matter.
— Jean Sharp, Watsonville