The suspects used a chemical spray to attack a group of officers, law enforcement officials said, but the authorities stopped short of filing charges in the death of Officer Brian Sicknick.
Two men were charged with assaulting Officer Brian D. Sicknick of the Capitol Police and other officers with a chemical spray during the Jan.6 riot, the Justice Department said on Monday, but prosecutors stopped short of linking the attack to Officer Sicknick’s death the next day. The F.B.I. arrested George Pierre Tanios,39, of Morgantown, W. Va., and Julian Elie Khater,32, of State College, Pa., on Sunday. Mr. Tanios was arrested at home and Mr. Khater as he stepped off a plane in Newark, the department said. They were charged with conspiracy to injure an officer, assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding and other crimes related to violent conduct on the grounds of the Capitol, the Justice Department said. Both appeared via video before federal magistrate judges on Monday. Mr. Tanios, who joined his hearing dressed in orange, will appear in court again on Thursday to determine whether he will remain detained while awaiting trial. In a separate hearing, a lawyer for Mr. Khater indicated that his client intended to plead not guilty. Among other charges, they face up to 20 years for assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon. Officer Sicknick and two other police officers were injured “as a result of being sprayed in the face” with an unidentified substance by Mr. Khater and Mr. Tanios, the F.B.I. said in search warrant applications filed in court. The officers were temporarily blinded and had to stop working to get medical attention, the bureau said. Officer Sicknick was one of five people left dead by the attack, and his death was a major focus for law enforcement officials conducting the sprawling inquiry into the riot. The Justice Department has said in court filings that the investigation is most likely “one of the largest in American history,” with more than 900 search warrants executed in nearly every state. The Capitol Police thanked federal prosecutors in a statement for charging the two men. “Those who perpetrated these heinous crimes must be held accountable,” the acting chief of the force, Yogananda D.
