A large contingent of Capitol Police officers will join the family of fallen officer Brian Sicknick, who died the day after the January 6th Republican-led domestic terrorist attack on Congress, for Friday’s sentencing hearing for the man who sprayed Sicknick with bear repellant, an act that likely contributed to the officer’s death, Politico reports.
Thirty-three-year-old Julian Khater of New Jersey pleaded guilty to two felony charges for assaulting law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon causing bodily injury. Khater was filmed deploying bear spray directly into the faces of Sicknick and fellow Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who had been injured earlier in the attack. Sicknick withdrew from the front line after the attack, was sent to a local hospital, and suffered a series of stokes caused by blot clots, leading to his death.
Sicknick’s longtime partner, Sandra Garza, and his family have written letters imploring U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan to impose the maximum sentence on Khater. The union representing Capitol Police officers and prosecutors have also supported the highest sentence available, 90 months.