NY Times Publishes Footage of Capitol Rioters Attacking Brian Sicknick With Bear Spray Before His Death

A newly-released collection of videos shows Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick being attacked by former President Donald Trump’s supporters while they stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Sicknick died the day after the Capitol onslaught, but the precise cause of his death remains unclear, and federal prosecutors are still debating whether they’ll bring murder charges against the rioters who attacked him. Two rioters were arrested this month for assaulting Sicknick, and The New York Times has released unpublished footage of their apparent cooperation in spraying Sicknick with chemical irritants.

The first video from the Times identifies the two suspects, Julian Elie Khater and George Pierre Tanios, at the Capitol’s west side as hostilities were breaking out on the police line. The Times’ second video shows Khater asking Tanios to “give me that bear shit,” and it also includes Khater saying he had just been sprayed.

The paper refers to the Justice Department’s charge that Khater and Tanios were carrying Frontiersman bear spray, which is “many times more powerful than pepper sprays sold for self-defense and is not meant for use on humans.” Khater was filmed again as he watched the riots unfold while Sicknick was a short distance away, trying to maintain the police barricade.

The Times’ fourth video shows that as the rioters pushed against the barrier, Khater was in the crowd, he seemingly raised a canister he held in his hand, and he sprayed it toward Sicknick. The moment was also caught on Sicknick’s body cam, and he was shown turning away and bending over afterward to wash out his eyes.

Sicknick continued to defend the Capitol throughout the day, but he collapsed in the evening and passed away the following night after his condition rapidly deteriorated. He was posthumously honored in a memorial ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda.