Trump supporter convicted of assaulting two police officers with pepper spray in Capitol assault

A 33-year-old man has been found guilty of assaulting two police officers with pepper spray during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on Capitol Hill, and could face up to 20 years in prison on each of the two charges against him.

This was announced by the U.S. Department of Justice in a statement, in which it detailed that the citizen, from New Jersey, pepper-sprayed two U.S. congressional security officers, leaving them unable to perform their duties.

One of the assaulted policemen would be Brian Sicknick , who suffered two strokes and died of natural causes the day after the insurrection, as ‘Axios’ has learned.

The other person was a Capitol Policewoman, identified in court documents as ‘Officer CE,’ who was assaulted directly in the eyes from a few feet away. The officer lowered her head and retreated, needing the assistance of another officer because she could not see.

Julian Elie Khater, 33, is charged with two counts of assault, resisting or hindering officers with a dangerous weapon. Along with another co-defendant, George Pierre Tanios, they traveled together to Washington D.C. on January 6, when they attended former President Trump’s rally and then joined protesters on the Capitol grounds.

Tanios had previously purchased two cans of bear spray and two cans of pepper spray, giving one of the containers of pepper spray to Khater on January 6. Both men were arrested on March 14, 2021, according to the missive.

Khater will be sentenced on Dec. 13, 2022, and faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison for each of two counts of assault, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon.

Khater’s guilty plea comes on the same day that a former New York City Police Department officer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for using an American flagpole to assault a police officer who was attempting to restrain rioters. The sentence is the longest given to a Jan. 6 defendant so far.

In the 19 months since January 6, 2021, more than 860 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for offenses related to the U.S. Capitol violation. including more than 260 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.