Man accused of assaulting Sicknick on Jan. 6 pleading guilty: court filing

The man accused of spraying a chemical irritant at the late U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol pleaded guilty Wednesday to disorderly conduct and trespassing charges.

George Tanios, 40, of West Virginia, will also pay $500 in restitution. Tanios will sentenced for the two charges on Dec. 6, according to the plea agreement, and faces up to a year behind bars.

According to Department of Justice (DOJ) charging documents, Tanios traveled to the U.S. Capitol with his friend Julian Khater, of Pennsylvania, after purchasing two cans of Frontiersman bear spray and another two cans of pepper spray.

Tanios and Khater arrived around 2 p.m., when a mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed the federal building in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election.

The FBI said in an affidavit that it obtained footage that showed Tanios and Khater “working together to assault law enforcement officers with an unknown chemical substance by spraying officers directly in the face and eyes.”

Tanios and Khater allegedly sprayed several Capitol police officers during the riot, including Sicknick, who suffered from two strokes the next day and died the evening of Jan. 7.

The Washington, D.C., medical examiner ruled that Sicknick died of natural causes.

Tanios and Khater were arrested in March and charged with nine counts, including the assault of Sicknick and two other federal agents with a chemical irritant. Both Tanios and Khater pleaded not guilty after their arrests.

Khater has not accepted a plea deal and is set to go to trial in October.

At the time of his arrest, Tanios was the owner and operator of a shop called Sandwich University in Morgantown, W.Va.

The Justice Department has arrested more than 850 Jan. 6 rioters in nearly all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and more than 300 have pleaded guilty.