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Two people have been arrested and charged with assaulting Capitol Police Officer Brian Secnick, who died after the Jan. 6 riots, according to indictment documents.
Julian Ely Khater, 32, of State College, Pennsylvania, and George Pierre Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, Virginia, of Lebanese descent, were arrested and were due to appear in federal court Monday. Each of them was charged with nine counts of assaulting Seknik, including three counts of assaulting a US officer with weapons, conspiracy to wound an officer, and physical violence for limited reasons.
Khater was seen on video firing a spray from a black canister at Sekenik and other officers’ faces, according to shipping documents.
Also in the video, Khater was seen carrying a package and waving it from side to side, about 5 to 8 feet away from three officers, including Seknik, according to the shipping document. The indictment said that each of the officers responded “to something that hit them in the face.”
An anonymous FBI agent swore in the indictment documents that Khater and Tanios “are working together to attack law enforcement officers with an unknown chemical by spraying officers directly in the face and eyes.”
Prosecutors pressed charges after the information helped the FBI identify Khater and Tanios from requested photos released from surveillance video and camera footage officers used, according to the complaint.
Authorities said Seknik died on duty the day after the riots. Capitol Police said he collapsed at a regional office after colliding with rioters and died the next day at the hospital. Seknik informed his superiors and colleagues that his face had been sprayed, according to the shipping documents.
But the exact cause of Seknik’s death has not yet been reported, as a chemical haze was suspected.
Some 140 officers were injured in the attack, with head and back injuries, cuts to the eyes and amputations of fingers. A security video, shown at the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate, showed officers beaten, trampled and at least one of them crushed in one of the doors.
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