WASHINGTON — A New Jersey man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges stemming from his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol. Julian Elie Khater admitted to pepper-spraying officers — including a New Jersey native who died one day later — who were defending the building from the mob.
Khater, of Somerset, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 13, when he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Three officers sustained injuries and became incapacitated for at least 20 minutes after Khater pepper-sprayed them, according to the Department of Justice. Court documents identify the cops by the initials B.S., C.E. and D.C.
Officer Brian Sicknick, who grew up in South River, died the day after pro-Donald Trump rioters attempted to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden. Sicknick suffered two strokes nearly eight hours after getting chemically sprayed.
Law enforcement originally investigated Sicknick’s death as a homicide, but Chief Medical Examiner Francisco J. Diaz told The Washington Post in April 2021 that Sicknick died of natural causes. Diaz did note that “all that transpired played a role in his condition.”
Both Khater and Tanios — who traveled to Washington, D.C., together, according to court documents — were arrested March 14. They pleaded guilty July 27 to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. Tanios faces up to two years in prison at his sentencing set for Dec. 6.
On Jan. 5, 2021, Tanios purchased two canisters each of bear spray and pepper spray, according to the DOJ. Khater and Tanios communicated via phone just before the purchase, and Tanios gave Khater one of the pepper spray canisters before they arrived in Washington, court documents state.
Khater walked through the crowd at about 2:20 p.m. Jan. 6 and got within a few steps of a bike-rack barrier and a line of police protecting Capitol grounds, the DOJ said. He stood directly across from Sicknick and Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, records show.
Within a few minutes, Rioters began pulling the bike rack away with their hands and rope, the DOJ said. Khater pepper-sprayed the officers seconds later, court documents state.
Sicknick turned his head away and retreated from the police line, while Khater continued spraying, authorities said. The defendant sprayed Edwards directly in her face from a few feet away, according to the DOJ.
Edwards Testifies About Attacks
Edwards recounted attacks against her and Sicknick in a July 9 hearing from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attacks. Edwards testified that she and Sicknick spent 30 to 45 minutes together, trying to hold back the mob. None of the officers wore protective gear, she said.
The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 events also played video of rioters breaking through the barrier outside the Capitol, knocking Edwards unconscious. Read more: Jan. 6 Hearing Recounts NJ Native, Cop Defending U.S. Capitol
“We were just, you know, grappling over bike racks and trying to hold them as quick as possible,” Edwards said. “All of a sudden, I see movement to the left of me, and I turned, and it was Officer Sicknick with his head in his hands, and he was ghostly pale.”
At that point, Edwards believed Sicknick had been sprayed with a chemical irritant. The growing crowd began to press against the barricades, Edwards recalled. The video showed the officers struggling to hold onto the bike racks.
“My cop alarm bells went off, because if you get sprayed with pepper spray, you’re going to turn red,” Edwards said, as Sicknick’s family looked on. “He turned just about as pale as this sheet of paper. And so I looked back to see what had hit him, what had happened, and that’s when I got sprayed in the eyes as well.”
Edwards was knocked unconscious. She woke up and resumed her efforts to contain rioters. The officer called it a “war scene,” where she slipped on blood with injured colleagues on the ground around her.
“I have never in my wildest dreams thought that as a police officer, as a law enforcement officer, I would find myself in the middle of a battle,” Edwards said. “I’m trained to detain a couple of subjects and handle a crowd, but I am not combat trained, and that day it was just hours of hand-to-hand combat — hours of dealing with things that were way beyond any law enforcement officer who is ever trained for.”
Sicknick and Edwards were among the more-than-140 Capitol officers injured during the insurrection, according to the U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee. Four officers also died by suicide in the days and months after the riot.
Two-dozen New Jersey residents have been charged for their roles in the riot, which stemmed from false assertions that Trump won the 2020 election. Many of the cases remain ongoing.
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