The New York Times Retracts the Sicknick Story

Originally posted by sharps2r800: ↑

Two Trump fanatics charged.

Two business owners arrested for assaulting Capitol Police officer who died following January 6 attack

Jacob Crosse
4 hours ago

On Sunday, two restaurant owners were arrested and charged with assaulting Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and two other Capitol Police with bear spray during the January 6 assault on the US Capitol. Sicknick died the following evening. However, the cause of death has not yet been determined.

Julian Elie Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, and George Pierre Tanios, 39, of West Virginia, are each facing nine charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, civil disorder and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. If convicted, the pair could spend up to 20 years in the prison.

The criminal complaint filed on Monday alleges that the online and visual evidence reveals “that the two were working in concert and had a plan to use the toxic spray against law enforcement.”

Court documents cite officer Chapman’s body-worn camera showing that at 2:23 p.m. the “rioters begin pulling on a bike rack to Chapman’s left, using ropes and their hands to pull the rack away.” The documents continue: “Seconds later, Khater is observed with his right arm up high in the air, appearing to be holding a canister in his right hand and aiming it in the officers’ direction while moving his right arm from side to side.”

Immediately thereafter, the three officers are seen reacting “one by one, to something striking them in the face,” according to the affidavit, which notes that the police were standing only “five to eight feet away.”
A review of Tanios and Khater’s social media accounts reveals both to be ardent Trump supporters and small restaurant owners.
article continues - https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/03/16/sick-m16.html

Expand

Nearly 350 arrests have been made to date related to the January 6 assault on the Capitol, with the most serious charges leveled against fascists affiliated with the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys militia groups, whose membership is dominated by current and former police and military members. Republican Representatives Matt Gaetz (Florida), Lauren Boebert (Colorado) and Marjorie Taylor-Greene (Georgia) have boasted of using members of both right-wing groups for “security” at campaign events.
.
The leadership of both groups, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, chairman of the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers, have both been named in court documents related to the assault on the Capitol. They both have close relations with Trump associates such as Roger Stone and Alex Jones, both of whom have enlisted members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers for “security.”

FBI agents arrested 49-year-old Christopher Worrell. Prosecutors allege that Worrell traveled to DC on January 6 armed with pepper spray, which he used against police. Worrell was also photographed near the Capitol wearing a tactical vest and a radio piece, along with other members of the Proud Boys.
Miller claimed that his client had come to D.C. only “at the direction of former President Trump.”

The ease with which the far-right crowd, led by members of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, III Percenters and other fascistic forces, was able to breach the Capitol is attributable to a stand-down of security forces directed by the Trump White House and carried out by the highest levels of the Pentagon, beginning with then-acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/03/16/sick-m16.html