Man who assaulted Capitol Police officer sentenced to 80 months in prison

Julian Khater attacked Brian Sicknick with pepper spray a day before officer died of a stroke

A hearse carries the casket of US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick on January 10, 2021, during a police procession in Washington. AFP

The man that carried out a pepper-spray attack on a US Capitol Police officer who died the day after the January 6, 2021, riot was sentenced to 80 months in prison on Friday with credit for time already served in pretrial detention.

Julian Khater, 32, who admitted in a guilty plea that he had used the pepper spray against Officer Brian Sicknick and two other officers, told US District Judge Thomas Hogan rash actions that day were not in his nature, and he wishes he could take them back.

“I've taken every change I possibly could to better myself as a person,” Khater said. “What happened on January 6 — there are no words for it … I wish I could take it back.”

Mr Sicknick died of a stroke the next day.

Although the medical examiner, Francisco J Diaz, later attributed his death to natural causes, he told The Washington Post he believed “all that transpired” on January 6, 2021, played a role in his death.

Thousands of Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol that day in an attempt to overturn his election loss.

George Tanios, 41, of Morgantown, West Virginia, who travelled to Washington with Khater and supplied the chemical agent he used, pleaded guilty last year to lesser misdemeanour charges of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds.