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Another January 6 rioter cuts a plea deal [1]
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Date: 2022-07-28
A final farewell to Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick
“Co-defendant in Jan. 6 Sicknick assault case pleads guilty,” sang the headline in today’s Washington Post.
The WaPo headline initially made me sad. George Tanios, one of the January 6 rioters involved in the death of Officer Brian Sicknick, has pleaded guilty to lesser misdemeanor charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct.
West Virginia sandwich shop owner George Tanios, 40, admitted to two counts of misdemeanor trespassing and disorderly conduct on restricted Capitol grounds, a reduction from an earlier 10-count indictment that included felony charges of rioting, assaulting law enforcement officers and obstructing of Congress’s certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory.
At first glance, it looked to me that a violent rioter who had participated in obstruction of Congress and assaulted Capitol Police officers, especially including one officer who died the following day, would be getting off with only a misdemeanor conviction. To my knowledge, this would be the first instance of a violent rioter having felony assault-on-a-federal-officer charges downgraded to misdemeanor charges in a plea deal. The misdemeanor charges carry only a 1-year maximum prison sentence, and if there are mitigating factors, Tanios is likely to serve far less. Failing to throw the book at the January 6 rioters has outraged many here at DKos and across the country. This plea deal might be perceived as another example of coddling the rioters and seditionists.
But then I looked deeper into the story. Tanios and his co-defendant Julian Elie Khater came to the January 6 rally and stormed the Capitol together armed with bear spray.
In the plea, Tanios admitted to bringing two cans of chemical spray to Washington and giving one to Khater prior to arrival at the Capitol.
But evidence appears to point to Khater as the perpetrator of the assault on Officer Sicknick, not Tanios.
Tanios’s attorney has argued that he was 30 feet away from Khater when he sprayed the officers and did not aid or abet any crime.
Although it was not explicitly stated in the WaPo article or announced by the prosecutor, it seems that Mr. Khater is still in one heap of trouble. It is likely that there was not enough evidence to convict Tanios of assault, and the misdemeanor plea may well be the best outcome the prosecution could expect to get. Especially if the deal involves Tanios testifying or providing additional evidence against Khater. Yes, that’s a lot of speculation on my part, but . . . justice for Officer Sicknick may still be coming.
Tanios will be sentenced on December 6.
Stay tuned.
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/28/2113067/-Another-January-6-rioter-cuts-a-plea-deal
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