The two men arrested earlier this week for assaulting Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick during the January 6th domestic terrorist attack at the Capitol have each been indicted on ten additional charges by a grand jury, ABC News reports.
Julian Khater of Pennsylvania and George Tanios of West Virginia face charges including conspiracy to injure officers, assault on federal officers and civil disorder relating to using bear spray on three police officers, including Sicknick who later died.
The conspiracy charge in the indictment stems from the allegation that the pair “planned and discussed the timing of when to use the chemical spray,” which “did cause significant bodily injury.” The two men are longtime friends, having grown up in New Jersey together, and arranged to meet to take part in the January 6th coup attempt.
According to an affidavit filed with the indictment, three officers attacked by the pair “were incapacitated and unable to perform their duties for at least 20 minutes or longer while they recovered from the spray.” One officer said the spray was “as strong as, if not stronger than, any version of the pepper spray they had been exposed to during their training as law enforcement officers.”